Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 0.9% – What’s Next?

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) were up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $53.20 and last traded at $52.10. Approximately 744,680 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 7,145,199 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $109.73.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.38. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.55 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oak Ridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,478,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,322,000 after acquiring an additional 17,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,143 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares during the last quarter. 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.