Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 8.8% Higher – Time to Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares rose 8.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $30.14 and last traded at $28.84. Approximately 4,063,606 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 4,016,169 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VKTX. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.31.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of -29.73 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $32.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.20.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

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