Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 0.9% – Should You Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price was up 0.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $53.20 and last traded at $52.10. Approximately 744,680 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 7,145,199 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.63.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VKTX. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $109.73.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $63.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.38. The company has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.55 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. This represents a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,257,979.41. This represents a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $327,000. American International Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.6% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 50,466 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 774.9% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 76,636 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,295,000 after buying an additional 67,877 shares in the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Finally, BOKF NA acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $985,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.