Insider Selling: Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) CEO Sells $7,693,160.64 in Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CEO Brian Lian sold 233,409 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.96, for a total value of $7,693,160.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,499,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,376,631.36. The trade was a 8.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Brian Lian also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, October 28th, Brian Lian sold 38,989 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.01, for a total transaction of $1,365,004.89.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

VKTX opened at $32.38 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of -15.27 and a beta of 0.71. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.92 and a 52 week high of $43.15.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.67) by ($0.14). During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.22) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. CNB Bank raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 5,756 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.2% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 14,961 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 58.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 6,220 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lewis Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 44,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,168,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.14.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the company’s pipeline leverages small-molecule approaches to target hormone signaling pathways implicated in conditions such as non?alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and muscle wasting disorders.

The company’s lead programs include VK2809, a thyroid hormone receptor?beta agonist designed to reduce liver fat and improve lipid profiles in patients with NASH and dyslipidemia, and VK5211, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) aimed at enhancing muscle mass and function in individuals with muscle wasting conditions.