Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 7.8% – Here’s Why

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price shot up 7.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $30.55 and last traded at $30.11. 2,065,214 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 4,546,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 4.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.51 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.65.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.25) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 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 $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % 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 that occurred on 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 directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,464,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108,972 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $24,888,000. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3,373.4% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 448,732 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,057,000 after purchasing an additional 435,813 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.