Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CFO Sells $2,150,709.75 in Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Greg Zante also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, October 28th, Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of VKTX opened at $42.53 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $51.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.95. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.14 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The firm has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.73 and a beta of 0.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on VKTX shares. B. Riley initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

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.