Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 1.8% - Still a Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $51.92 and last traded at $50.80. Approximately 2,676,696 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 3,994,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. B. Riley initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -54.62 and a beta of 0.89. The stock's fifty day moving average is $61.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.93.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $715,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $660,250. This trade represents a 52.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 296.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 11,362 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 51.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,416 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% in the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 38,118 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,413,000 after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $741,000. 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.

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