Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 4.6%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price shot up 4.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $66.93 and last traded at $66.80. 650,613 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 5,672,276 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on VKTX. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.33.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25). During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. Analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,079 shares of company stock valued at $8,769,653 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 924.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 82,099 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 74,085 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,639 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 4,136 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 137,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 18,811 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 27,647 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 8,372 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 270.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 8,063 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.