Comerica Bank Has $7.51 Million Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 28,154.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 91,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 91,219 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $7,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VKTX. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $55,098,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,341,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on VKTX. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.78.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 4.3 %

VKTX traded down $2.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $52.29. 1,964,527 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,815,677. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.28 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $55.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.21. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -53.90 and a beta of 1.03.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Zante Greg 16,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.