Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 8.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price was up 8.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $56.20 and last traded at $56.18. Approximately 2,460,528 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 4,517,678 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated 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 for the company. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.73.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $63.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.05. The firm has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.68 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly 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 period last year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at $11,442,929.26. This trade represents a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of Viking Therapeutics 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $327,000. Shell Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $262,000. BOKF NA bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $985,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 11.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,417 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after acquiring an additional 6,181 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $802,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.