Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares were up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $33.24 and last traded at $32.47. Approximately 1,496,683 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 4,019,360 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the subject of several research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Maxim Group reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.07 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted 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 company posted ($0.25) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was 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 owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Oak Ridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after purchasing an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,316,000 after purchasing an additional 62,956 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.