Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Sells $118,466.82 in Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $28.16. 2,383,469 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,020,345. The business's 50 day moving average price is $27.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.03. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.92 and a 1-year high of $81.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of -24.49 and a beta of 0.62.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.10). Viking Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.26) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.15.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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