Marianna Mancini Sells 281,425 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $76.97 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The stock has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.76 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.40 and a 200 day moving average of $37.05.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,157,000 after purchasing an additional 97,552 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,202,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,379,000 after buying an additional 822,156 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 13.7% during the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 1,279,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,159,000 after acquiring an additional 154,000 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,727,000 after acquiring an additional 311,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

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.