Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Sells $2,317,691.25 in Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $42.53 on Tuesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.14 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of -45.73 and a beta of 0.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted 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 valued at $6,478,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,322,000 after buying an additional 17,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

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.