Insider Selling: Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Director Sells 5,700 Shares of Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,340. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

J Matthew Singleton also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 19th, J Matthew Singleton sold 16,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total transaction of $995,520.00.
• On Wednesday, August 14th, J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $64.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.31 and a beta of 1.03. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.28 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.92.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.78.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,337 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 3,698 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 22,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 39,321 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,776,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 3,049 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.