American Century Companies Inc. Has $14.50 Million Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 67.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 273,449 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 558,683 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Viking Therapeutics worth $14,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VKTX. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 775,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,436,000 after buying an additional 10,379 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 339,726 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,322,000 after purchasing an additional 196,015 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 38,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $721,000 after purchasing an additional 21,246 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $341,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $4,872,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VKTX shares. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $70.47 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $59.08 and its 200-day moving average is $63.21. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.28 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The company has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.77 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $662,340. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics 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.