Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 1.5% – Here’s Why

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price rose 1.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $29.55 and last traded at $29.40. Approximately 699,430 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 3,958,267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Maxim Group reduced their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.6 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.51. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.76 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.25) EPS. Analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $206,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,251 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $298,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 39.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,172 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 248,269 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,718,000 after purchasing an additional 11,668 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.