Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.
Viking Therapeutics Price Performance
NASDAQ:VKTX traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $76.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,750,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,467,980. The stock has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.76 and a beta of 1.12. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $72.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.05. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41.
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 924.4% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 82,099 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 74,085 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 33.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 15.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 27,647 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 8,372 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased 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. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.25.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Viking Therapeutics
About Viking Therapeutics
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Viking Therapeutics, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Viking Therapeutics wasn't on the list.
While Viking Therapeutics currently has a "Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Wondering what the next stocks will be that hit it big, with solid fundamentals? Click the link below to learn more about how your portfolio could bloom.
Get This Free Report
