Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 33,310 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 73% compared to the typical daily volume of 19,200 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $3.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.41. 3,967,051 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,520,532. The firm has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a PE ratio of -77.34 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.53. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $662,340. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after buying an additional 2,403,820 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $54,295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.