Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Acquired by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 357.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,049 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 20,350 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VKTX. Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 29,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 3,866 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,841,000 after purchasing an additional 525,296 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,157,000 after purchasing an additional 97,552 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $976,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $25,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $65.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -70.80 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.49. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.28 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $135,596,696.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was 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 $135,596,696.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VKTX. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James lifted their target price 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. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Company 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.