Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $48.28 and last traded at $47.95. 587,577 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 4,421,835 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.03.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.75.
Read Our Latest Analysis on VKTX
Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance
The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.78 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.31.
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Oak Ridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $8,316,000 after purchasing an additional 62,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.
About Viking Therapeutics
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Viking Therapeutics, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Viking Therapeutics wasn't on the list.
While Viking Therapeutics currently has a "Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Market downturns give many investors pause, and for good reason. Wondering how to offset this risk? Click the link below to learn more about using beta to protect yourself.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
