Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Marianna Mancini Sells 6,185 Shares of Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Marianna Mancini sold 6,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $216,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 382,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,386,345. The trade was a 1.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $34.93 on Wednesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.92 and a 12 month high of $79.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.48 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.02.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.67) by ($0.14). During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.22) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.2% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 14,961 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 58.4% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 6.1% in the second quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 6,220 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% in the second quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 44,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.4% during the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,580 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $466,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.62.

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.