Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 2% – Here’s Why

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) rose 2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $48.28 and last traded at $47.95. Approximately 587,577 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 4,421,835 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. B. Riley assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 18.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.16 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,565,000 after buying an additional 994,801 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% in the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,350,000 after acquiring an additional 452,344 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Finally, Nepsis Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,251,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by 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.