Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 1.9% - Here's Why

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 1.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $51.49 and last traded at $51.24. 2,634,009 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 4,288,292 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began 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 on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $109.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.9 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.18. The company has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of -55.10 and a beta of 0.88.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company earned ($0.23) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. This represents a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. This represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 296.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 11,362 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position 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 worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 38,118 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $741,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

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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