Charles Rowland, Jr. Sells 60,000 Shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Director Charles Rowland, Jr. sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.57, for a total value of $2,134,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,067,100. This represents a 66.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $35.22 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two week high of $79.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of -16.61 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.11.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.67) by ($0.14). During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.22) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 16,302 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Management Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $241,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,367,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 77.7% in the 2nd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 63,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after purchasing an additional 27,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 118.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 52,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 28,200 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $105.00 price objective on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded Viking Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.07.

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.