Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 4.8% Higher – What’s Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price was up 4.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $45.00 and last traded at $43.48. Approximately 4,098,534 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 8% from the average daily volume of 4,463,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VKTX. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of -46.47 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at $11,442,929.26. The trade was a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 144,687 shares of company stock valued at $11,115,671. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% in the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.