Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.17% of Viking Therapeutics worth $4,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $53,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $56,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,242.9% in the 1st quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $86.92.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 377,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante 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 $27.76, for a total value of $118,424.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $24.36 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.77. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.92 and a 52 week high of $81.73. The stock has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.92 and a beta of 0.67.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). The company’s revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

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.