Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 2.8% Higher – What’s Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price rose 2.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $28.88 and last traded at $29.11. Approximately 710,541 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 4,521,576 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Maxim Group decreased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.4 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.68. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of -28.08 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Creative Planning raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,955 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,086 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 3,625 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $230,000. 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.