Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $102.00. The stock had previously closed at $72.88, but opened at $78.30. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $73.39, with a volume of 6,668,368 shares.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on VKTX. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at $11,442,929.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 525,473 shares of company stock valued at $37,088,158 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at $607,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $369,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $2,385,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $598,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $239,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 2.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.49 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.77.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.