Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 0.3%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) fell 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $68.22 and last traded at $68.67. 1,135,008 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 5,569,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VKTX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 7.9 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -79.47 and a beta of 1.05.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total value of $7,230,152.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,707,779.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 329,079 shares of company stock valued at $8,769,653. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Gainplan LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $246,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $61,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 80.0% in the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 125.6% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.