Teacher Retirement System of Texas Trims Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 8.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,989 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,548 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JNBA Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. CNB Bank lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 141.6% during the 1st quarter. CNB Bank now owns 5,330 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 3,124 shares during the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.4% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 27,584 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 9,308 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 19.4% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,491,000 after acquiring an additional 23,481 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total value of $118,424.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405 in the last three months. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $30.70 on Wednesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.70 and a beta of 0.62.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued 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). During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.26) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.