Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 4.3%

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded up 4.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $67.56 and last traded at $67.24. 567,594 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 4,512,329 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 4.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.95 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.50.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction 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 approximately $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,340. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of Viking Therapeutics 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,049 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 775,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,436,000 after acquiring an additional 10,379 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 339,726 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,322,000 after purchasing an additional 196,015 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 38,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 21,246 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.