Brian Lian Sells 194,490 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock

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

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $41.66 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.87. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $18.14 and a one year high of $99.41. The company has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.80 and a beta of 0.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VKTX. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.