Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 7.6% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded up 7.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $30.73 and last traded at $31.48. 1,299,635 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 3,868,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.54 and a 200 day moving average of $52.20. The company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of -34.07 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.25) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.