Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 8.1% - Should You Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 8.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $29.76 and last traded at $29.73. 1,604,300 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 4,026,759 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 9.7%

The firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.25 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.53.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released 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). During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.26) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at $66,386,789.20. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP raised 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased 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 buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.