Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 3.2% Higher - What's Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) was up 3.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $51.92 and last traded at $51.48. Approximately 852,405 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 4,472,293 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.35 and a beta of 0.88. The business's 50 day moving average price is $61.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.11.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This represents a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,889,000. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $239,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $383,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 250.9% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 89,619 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,751,000 after buying an additional 64,079 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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