Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Short Interest Up 27.9% in November

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,990,000 shares, an increase of 27.9% from the October 31st total of 13,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $52.94 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of -56.92 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $11.82 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.42 and a 200-day moving average of $59.61.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. This represents a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,322,000 after buying an additional 17,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,143 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after buying an additional 9,699 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VKTX. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Finally, B. Riley started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

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.