Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 6.6%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) rose 6.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $54.80 and last traded at $54.12. Approximately 2,754,565 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 4,860,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.56.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.48.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,413,639.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $294,380,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 59.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,202,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,379,000 after acquiring an additional 822,156 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,841,000 after acquiring an additional 525,296 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.