Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CFO Greg Zante Sells 4,266 Shares of Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at $4,682,001.60. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of VKTX opened at $28.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of -24.49 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.36 and its 200-day moving average is $29.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.92 and a 12 month high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.10). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. Viking Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on VKTX. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.15.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

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.