Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 2.1% – Time to Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares rose 2.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $64.17 and last traded at $63.75. Approximately 520,369 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 4,373,831 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 5.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.80 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.49.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $135,596,696.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third 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 last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.