Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 53,247 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 168% compared to the average daily volume of 19,834 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,596,696.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on VKTX. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX stock traded up $10.00 on Thursday, reaching $70.39. 8,412,950 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,312,941. Viking Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $8.28 and a 12 month high of $99.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $62.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.80 billion, a PE ratio of -70.01 and a beta of 1.00.

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, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.