Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CFO Sells $4,986,005.64 in Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $76.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.76 and a beta of 1.12. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.28 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.89.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $78,586,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 59.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,202,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,379,000 after buying an additional 822,156 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $12,341,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,841,000 after acquiring an additional 525,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 194.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 765,320 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,472,000 after acquiring an additional 505,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

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.