Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Sells $2,317,691.25 in Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ VKTX traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $42.53. The stock had a trading volume of 2,734,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,071,149. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.95. The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.73 and a beta of 0.95. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.14 and a 52-week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.75.

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.