Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 1.6% Following Earnings Beat

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price rose 1.6% on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $69.17 and last traded at $66.14. Approximately 1,593,187 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 5,598,100 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.07.

The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at $58,707,779.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total value of $7,230,152.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 329,079 shares of company stock worth $8,769,653 over the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $25,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 125.6% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $355,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -73.18 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.33.

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.