Marianna Mancini Sells 54,215 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $41.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.80 and a beta of 0.95. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.14 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.87.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results 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 firm posted ($0.23) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after buying an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,316,000 after buying an additional 62,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.