Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Stock Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 67.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,168 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned approximately 0.13% of Viking Therapeutics worth $3,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 4.0%

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $33.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.21 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.50. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.92 and a 12 month high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.92.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.