Insider Selling: Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) CFO Sells $1,897,046.90 in Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CFO Greg Zante sold 57,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total value of $1,897,046.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 189,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,247,413.90. This represents a 23.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Greg Zante also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, October 28th, Greg Zante sold 6,185 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $216,475.00.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $32.38 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.27 and a beta of 0.71. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.92 and a 12-month high of $43.15.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.22) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,092,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000,000 after buying an additional 616,526 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 58.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,085,487 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,807,000 after acquiring an additional 771,704 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $46,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 954,272 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,078,000 after purchasing an additional 131,994 shares during the period. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 52.8% during the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 638,204 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,912,000 after purchasing an additional 220,396 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.14.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the company’s pipeline leverages small-molecule approaches to target hormone signaling pathways implicated in conditions such as non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and muscle wasting disorders.

The company’s lead programs include VK2809, a thyroid hormone receptor‐beta agonist designed to reduce liver fat and improve lipid profiles in patients with NASH and dyslipidemia, and VK5211, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) aimed at enhancing muscle mass and function in individuals with muscle wasting conditions.