Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CFO Greg Zante Sells 66,756 Shares

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $76.97 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $99.41. The stock has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of -82.76 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.51.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James upped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $61,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.