Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 4.3%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded up 4.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $67.56 and last traded at $67.24. 567,594 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 4,512,329 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 3.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.77 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $59.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.38.

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

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,535. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 775,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,436,000 after purchasing an additional 10,379 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 136.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 339,726 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,322,000 after buying an additional 196,015 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 38,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $721,000 after acquiring an additional 21,246 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $341,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,872,000. 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.