Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 5.2% – Should You Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shot up 5.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $29.53 and last traded at $29.28. 1,493,306 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 4,511,725 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Maxim Group lowered their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.82 and a 200-day moving average of $51.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.87 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 7.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,955 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,086 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 3,625 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $310,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5,482.3% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,073 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,170,000 after acquiring an additional 49,176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.