Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 4.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price traded up 4.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $31.10 and last traded at $31.19. 1,334,854 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 4,008,480 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Maxim Group cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.89 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,316,000 after purchasing an additional 62,956 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,304,000 after purchasing an additional 44,122 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 109.1% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 34,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 17,754 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 80,602 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 44,365 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 103.1% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 21,627 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.