Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 31,516 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 87% compared to the average daily volume of 16,878 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Maxim Group dropped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. S.A. Mason LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,980 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,165 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 5.8 %

Shares of VKTX traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $24.15. The company had a trading volume of 4,158,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,365,903. The firm has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.15 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $23.27 and a 52-week high of $82.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.50.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.