Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 0.6% – Still a Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shot up 0.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $66.60 and last traded at $65.76. 263,535 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 4,340,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Raymond James raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a PE ratio of -69.96 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.11.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $100,157,000 after acquiring an additional 97,552 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 721.9% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 180,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,396,000 after purchasing an additional 158,100 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,422,000. Finally, Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,036,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.