Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 8.8% - Still a Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) shares traded up 8.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $30.14 and last traded at $28.84. 4,063,606 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 4,016,169 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.31.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 8.6 %

The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.80 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.33.

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Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 previous year, the firm earned ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $37,576,000 after acquiring an additional 136,729 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 712.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 10,489 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 9,198 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $957,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,322,000 after purchasing an additional 17,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $196,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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