Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 1.7% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) were up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $32.55 and last traded at $32.16. Approximately 1,358,137 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 4,040,823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 8.8 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.20. The company has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.96 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 47,547 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,295 shares during the last quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $170,000. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 48,369 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after acquiring an additional 12,426 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 93,294 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,754,000 after purchasing an additional 29,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tang Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 166.7% in the 4th quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 320,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,877,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by 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.