Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $41.49, but opened at $44.18. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $42.61, with a volume of 2,035,766 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VKTX. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. B. Riley started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $58.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.03 and a beta of 0.88.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. Research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This represents a 46.85 % 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 144,687 shares of company stock valued at $11,115,671. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 112.7% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,750 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 8,344 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 308,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,351,000 after purchasing an additional 63,206 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 272.0% during the 2nd quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 31,920 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 23,340 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 16.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 407,256 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,589,000 after buying an additional 58,763 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 71.2% during the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 25,128 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after buying an additional 10,447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.