Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTXGet Free Report) was up 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $52.22 and last traded at $51.67. Approximately 790,820 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 4,531,834 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VKTX shares. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

Get Our Latest Research Report on VKTX

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.55 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $63.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.52.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTXGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. Research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. This represents a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This represents a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,619,430 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,052,176,000 after buying an additional 79,149 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,350,000 after purchasing an additional 452,344 shares during the period. Braidwell LP grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,156,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $73,248,000 after purchasing an additional 50,072 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after acquiring an additional 994,801 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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