Brian Lian Sells 216,130 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Brian Lian also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 21st, Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00.
• On Monday, August 19th, Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total value of $7,426,846.00.
• On Tuesday, July 30th, Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $70.47 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.21. The company has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.77 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.19) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,049 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 775,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,436,000 after acquiring an additional 10,379 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 339,726 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,322,000 after acquiring an additional 196,015 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 38,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $721,000 after acquiring an additional 21,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $341,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.60.

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.