Insider Selling: Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Sells 281,425 Shares of Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,413,639.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $76.97 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.28 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.69. The company has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.76 and a beta of 1.12.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 125.6% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

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.