Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 3.4%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) shares traded up 3.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $77.23 and last traded at $76.16. 1,042,493 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 6,281,212 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $7.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -83.10 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $56.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.32.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.25). During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total value of $691,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total transaction of $838,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,264,882 shares in the company, valued at $54,243,923.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $691,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 359,079 shares of company stock worth $9,461,153. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 4,854,645 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 97,552 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 5,034,102 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 571,796 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,947,905 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.