Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 728,652 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,055 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.65% of Viking Therapeutics worth $29,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. S.A. Mason LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Scotiabank started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Maxim Group dropped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $29.83 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.94 and its 200 day moving average is $48.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.83 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.41 and a 52-week high of $89.10.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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.