Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Holdings Lifted by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 25.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,793 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3,373.4% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 448,732 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,057,000 after acquiring an additional 435,813 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,542,000 after acquiring an additional 322,689 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,416,000. Finally, Tang Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 166.7% in the 4th quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 320,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,877,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VKTX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $40.03 on Monday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two week high of $81.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.74. The company has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of -26.16 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $747,514.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405 in the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.