Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 4.9% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) rose 4.9% on Friday . The company traded as high as $76.83 and last traded at $76.83. Approximately 1,602,841 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 4,338,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 6.6 %

The company has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -83.90 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $63.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.68.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $135,596,696.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 527,671 shares of company stock worth $34,700,603. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

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.