Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

by · The Markets Daily

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX – Get Free Report) rose 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $52.22 and last traded at $51.67. Approximately 790,820 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 4,531,834 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VKTX. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.80.

Get Our Latest Analysis on VKTX

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 3.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a PE ratio of -55.56 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.76.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009 in the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Second Line Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 38,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $741,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $354,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 12.9% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 45,252 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,865,000 after purchasing an additional 5,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 193.1% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 20,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 13,409 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

About Viking Therapeutics

(Get Free Report)

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.

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