PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 55.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,779 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,460 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. S.A. Mason LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $75,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX stock opened at $29.28 on Tuesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.41 and a 12 month high of $89.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.84 and its 200 day moving average is $47.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of -29.28 and a beta of 0.90.

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

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.