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

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction of $118,466.82. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at $10,484,146.95. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.16. 2,383,469 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,040,100. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $18.92 and a one year high of $81.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.49 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.71.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.10). The firm's quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,840 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 1,912 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 462,964 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $18,630,000 after acquiring an additional 41,400 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 26,885 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,952 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $117,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 224,409 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $9,030,000 after purchasing an additional 66,358 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.