Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Up to $47.39

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $47.39, but opened at $50.83. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $49.78, with a volume of 398,647 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.56.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 4.4 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.25.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,059,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,059,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $61,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.