Sarah Kathryn Rouan Sells 11,000 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 6.6 %

Shares of VKTX traded up $4.81 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,153,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,374,743. The company has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -83.22 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $63.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.74. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.