Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 9.4% – What’s Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was up 9.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $37.71 and last traded at $38.7510. Approximately 692,567 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 4,712,638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $105.00 target price on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. B. Riley raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.14.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.1%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.81 and a 200-day moving average of $31.02. The company has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.18 and a beta of 0.65.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.67) by ($0.14). Viking Therapeutics’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.22) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles A. Rowland, Jr. sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.57, for a total transaction of $2,134,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,067,100. This trade represents a 66.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 6,185 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $216,475.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 382,467 shares in the company, valued at $13,386,345. This trade represents a 1.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,359 shares of company stock worth $3,932,155. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 58.4% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.