Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading 23.9% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price rose 23.9% during trading on Tuesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $116.00 to $138.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Viking Therapeutics traded as high as $89.10 and last traded at $85.75. Approximately 11,836,020 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 83% from the average daily volume of 6,459,629 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.19.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on VKTX. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.89.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.90, for a total value of $268,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 180,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,067. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total transaction of $838,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,264,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,243,923.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.90, for a total value of $268,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 180,730 shares in the company, valued at $3,235,067. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 374,079 shares of company stock valued at $9,729,653. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $100,157,000 after buying an additional 97,552 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,841,000 after acquiring an additional 525,296 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 29,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 3,866 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 55,236 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 13,784 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus ETF Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 4,817 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.1 %

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.31.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25). During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.26) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

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.