Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 1% Higher

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price was up 1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $58.01 and last traded at $56.30. Approximately 726,925 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 4,754,341 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VKTX. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.78.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -60.54 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.31.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.19) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,557.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 371,604 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,916,000 after acquiring an additional 349,186 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 100.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 137,583 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,560,000 after buying an additional 68,921 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,157,000 after buying an additional 97,552 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $1,422,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,727,000 after acquiring an additional 311,681 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.