Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 3.3% Higher – Here’s Why

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares were up 3.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $30.88 and last traded at $30.48. Approximately 3,279,795 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 4,270,754 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VKTX. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.29 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.48.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $672,629,000 after acquiring an additional 96,008 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $75,704,000 after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,542,000 after purchasing an additional 322,689 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,615,000 after buying an additional 1,108,972 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.