Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 1.4%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was up 1.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $57.66 and last traded at $57.50. Approximately 346,876 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 4,648,030 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.71.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VKTX. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.78.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.63 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average is $54.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.87.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.19) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total value of $7,426,846.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,954,196.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total transaction of $7,426,846.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $154,954,196.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 283,541 shares of company stock worth $17,319,171. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $25,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. 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.