GSB Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

GSB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 10.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the period. GSB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Quarry LP raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 571.4% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $24.97 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $30.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.32 and a beta of 0.73. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two week high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). Viking Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at $66,386,789.20. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.38.

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.