Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Up to $54.13

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $54.13, but opened at $56.29. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $54.61, with a volume of 335,267 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.78.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $57.18 and a 200-day moving average of $63.65. The firm has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.95 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total value of $397,404.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,340. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.