Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 23.9% Following 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 were traded 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 the company. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $691,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.90, for a total value of $268,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 180,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,067. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 374,079 shares of company stock valued at $9,729,653 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 4,817 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,575 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 39,321 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 4,526 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.1 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.31.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 previous year, the company posted ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

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.