Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 1% Higher

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) rose 1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $77.52 and last traded at $76.15. Approximately 1,360,055 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 5,514,446 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on VKTX. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 5.2 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.01. The firm has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -80.91 and a beta of 1.05.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.25) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $542,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $1,422,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3,146.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 360,839 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,589,000 after buying an additional 349,725 shares during the last quarter. Caas Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $2,706,000. Finally, K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $328,000. 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.