Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 3.5%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) rose 3.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $63.40 and last traded at $63.32. Approximately 598,793 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 4,640,817 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VKTX. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.78.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a PE ratio of -68.09 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.18.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping 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. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,157,000 after purchasing an additional 97,552 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $1,422,000. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,727,000 after purchasing an additional 311,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $262,000. 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.