Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 4.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price was up 4.9% on Friday . The company traded as high as $31.10 and last traded at $31.19. Approximately 1,334,854 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 4,008,480 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Maxim Group lowered their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.89 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.73.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,316,000 after purchasing an additional 62,956 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,304,000 after purchasing an additional 44,122 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 109.1% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 34,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 17,754 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 122.4% in the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 80,602 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,243,000 after purchasing an additional 44,365 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 21,627 shares during the period. 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.