Viking Therapeutics Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 23,521 call options on the company. This is an increase of 45% compared to the typical volume of 16,210 call options.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.7%

VKTX opened at $28.95 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $18.92 and a 1-year high of $81.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.53. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of -28.95 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $672,629,000 after acquiring an additional 96,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $75,704,000 after acquiring an additional 17,046 shares during the period. Braidwell LP raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,542,000 after acquiring an additional 322,689 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,540,000 after buying an additional 1,029,125 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,615,000 after buying an additional 1,108,972 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.15.

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.