Bank of New York Mellon Corp Boosts Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 407,256 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,763 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $21,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $55.39 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.14. The stock has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.56 and a beta of 1.03. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on VKTX. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.78.

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.