Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 0.2%

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $65.32 and last traded at $64.46. 729,774 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 4,684,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.35.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.78.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $55.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.45. The firm has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of -69.49 and a beta of 1.03.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,340. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aristides Capital LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 120.0% in the 2nd quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 11,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 114.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 49,311 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,614,000 after acquiring an additional 26,270 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 357.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 26,049 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 20,350 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,506,000. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 3.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. 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.