Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 8.1% – Should You Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price rose 8.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $56.20 and last traded at $56.18. Approximately 2,460,528 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 4,517,678 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on VKTX. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.73.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.91. The company has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.61 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $327,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 11.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,417 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,037,000 after buying an additional 6,181 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $802,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $2,373,000. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 28,154.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 91,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,507,000 after acquiring an additional 91,219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.