PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 38.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,078 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $93,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Braidwell LP increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,542,000 after purchasing an additional 322,689 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% in 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. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 597,739 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,053,000 after purchasing an additional 16,321 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 537,239 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,516,000 after purchasing an additional 73,710 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 535,984 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,568,000 after buying an additional 54,871 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 5.5%

Shares of VKTX opened at $25.69 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.92 and a 12-month high of $81.73. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of -16.79 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.75.

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

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $747,514.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,388,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% 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 quarter. 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.