Insider Selling: Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CEO Sells 194,490 Shares of Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $41.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of -44.80 and a beta of 0.95. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.14 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.87.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,478,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after buying an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,316,000 after acquiring an additional 62,956 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.