Viking Therapeutics Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 47,999 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 189% compared to the average volume of 16,605 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 0.9 %

VKTX stock opened at $28.61 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $18.92 and a 52-week high of $81.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of -28.61 and a beta of 0.84.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.10). During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.26) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan acquired 1,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,715,000. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 80,602 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 44,365 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 103.1% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 21,627 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $475,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $528,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.