Viking Therapeutics Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 36,065 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 81% compared to the average daily volume of 19,978 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.78.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 2.0 %

VKTX traded up $1.30 on Friday, reaching $65.98. The company had a trading volume of 9,296,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,218,861. The company has a fifty day moving average of $55.72 and a 200-day moving average of $56.21. The company has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -70.95 and a beta of 1.03. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.