Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 0.5% Higher - What's Next?

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) traded up 0.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $33.24 and last traded at $32.47. 1,496,683 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 4,019,360 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Maxim Group decreased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.07 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.07.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 47,547 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,913,000 after buying an additional 2,295 shares during the last quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 48,369 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 12,426 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 93,294 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,754,000 after purchasing an additional 29,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tang Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 166.7% in the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 320,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $12,877,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. 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.