Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shot up 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $52.22 and last traded at $51.67. 790,820 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 4,531,834 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.3 %

The company has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.56 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.76.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $715,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,250. This represents a 52.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 over the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.