Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $37.58 Million Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 136,729 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.54% of Viking Therapeutics worth $37,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VKTX. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $369,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 168,600 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $13,825,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 77.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 45,809 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,756,000 after buying an additional 20,023 shares during the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $221,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 34.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 344,825 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $28,276,000 after purchasing an additional 88,192 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX traded down $2.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.93. 7,208,478 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,517,795. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.49 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -62.35 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $546,535. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $546,535. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 527,473 shares of company stock worth $37,225,498. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VKTX. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.80.

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.