Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 3.5% Higher

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.78.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.8 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.09 and a beta of 1.03.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,596,696.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares during the period. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $294,380,000. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 valued at $23,727,000 after acquiring an additional 311,681 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,841,000 after acquiring an additional 525,296 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $78,586,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.