Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 1.9%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded up 1.9% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $63.21 and last traded at $62.82. 439,371 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 4,474,208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on VKTX. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.8 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.02 and its 200-day moving average is $62.77. The company has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a PE ratio of -67.55 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.19) EPS. Analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $715,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. 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.