Lawson Macartney Sells 2,000 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $68.48 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.34 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.76 and a 200-day moving average of $61.87.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James upped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% in the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.