Blue Trust Inc. Buys 529 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,476 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $66,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 4.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 647,391 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,634,000 after acquiring an additional 28,922 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 59.2% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 597,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,430,000 after acquiring an additional 222,293 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 538,636 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,008,000 after acquiring an additional 2,652 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 12.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 518,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,517,000 after acquiring an additional 55,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 470,028 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,351,000 after acquiring an additional 6,696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $33.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.92 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.23 and its 200 day moving average is $28.37. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.42.

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.