Greg Zante Sells 4,266 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.16. The stock had a trading volume of 2,383,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,029,883. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.49 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.77. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.92 and a 12-month high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.10). The company's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.26) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on VKTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.15.

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.