TCW Group Inc. Takes $2.48 Million Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

TCW Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 61,651 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,481,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,677,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,902,000 after purchasing an additional 143,675 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,576,000 after purchasing an additional 136,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sphera Funds Management LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $8,424,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Maxim Group cut their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 14.3 %

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $29.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.20 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.89. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.64 and a 12 month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released 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 in the prior year, the company posted ($0.25) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the business’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 $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.