Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 1.9% Higher

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price traded up 1.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $68.48 and last traded at $68.21. 333,223 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 5,903,988 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VKTX. BTIG Research raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $64.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.68.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.25). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $691,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $691,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 359,079 shares of company stock worth $9,461,153 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 237.9% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,894,923 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $111,767,000 after buying an additional 4,854,645 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,157,000 after buying an additional 97,552 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2,039.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,280,944 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $87,928,000 after buying an additional 5,034,102 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 5,145,112 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $95,751,000 after buying an additional 571,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 21,586.9% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,961,561 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,007,000 after buying an additional 2,947,905 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.