Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 1%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price traded up 1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $77.52 and last traded at $76.15. 1,360,055 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 5,514,446 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VKTX shares. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.18 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.78.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 125.6% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 39,321 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

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.