Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 0.5% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price shot up 0.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $33.24 and last traded at $32.47. 1,496,683 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 4,019,360 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.24 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.86 and its 200 day moving average is $52.34.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after purchasing an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,316,000 after buying an additional 62,956 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.