Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 0.6% – Should You Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares shot up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $47.84 and last traded at $47.49. 746,674 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 4,413,933 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VKTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of -51.06 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.31.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at $11,442,929.26. This trade represents a 46.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 112.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,750 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 308,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,351,000 after purchasing an additional 63,206 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 272.0% during the second quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 31,920 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,692,000 after buying an additional 23,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $21,589,000 after buying an additional 58,763 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.