Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 5.5%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price rose 5.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $72.10 and last traded at $71.93. Approximately 2,613,342 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 4,513,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.82 and its 200 day moving average is $63.53.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475 over the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. 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.