Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 4.6%

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shot up 4.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $66.93 and last traded at $66.80. 650,613 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 5,672,276 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on VKTX. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 23rd. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -72.61 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $66.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.96.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total transaction of $838,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,264,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,243,923.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total transaction of $838,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,264,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,243,923.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 329,079 shares of company stock valued at $8,769,653. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $93,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 270.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 8,063 shares during the period. Finally, 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.2% in the third quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,028 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares during the period. 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.