BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $1.88 Million Stock Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lessened its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 46.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,701 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 40,011 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Maxim Group cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $28.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of -28.43 and a beta of 0.75. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $18.92 and a one year high of $81.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.36.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.10). Viking Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan acquired 1,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

Viking Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's lead drug candidate is VK2809, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRß), which is in Phase IIb clinical trials to treat patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as NAFLD.