Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 0.3% - Here's What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) rose 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $52.22 and last traded at $51.67. Approximately 790,820 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 4,531,834 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VKTX. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James increased 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 note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 3.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a PE ratio of -55.56 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.76.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009 in the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Second Line Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 38,118 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,413,000 after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $741,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $354,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 12.9% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 45,252 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,865,000 after purchasing an additional 5,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 193.1% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 20,352 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 13,409 shares during the period. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.