Marianna Mancini Sells 54,215 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $40.60 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.75. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.15 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.66 and a beta of 0.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on VKTX. B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

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.