SAN DIEGO—Zante Greg, the Chief Financial Officer of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX), recently sold a significant portion of the company's stock. According to a recent SEC filing, Greg sold a total of 50,309 shares in two separate transactions on January 6, 2025. The shares were sold at prices ranging from $42.6888 to $43.3194, totaling approximately $2.15 million. The transaction occurred as Viking's stock trades above its InvestingPro Fair Value, with the company maintaining a strong financial health score and impressive 133% return over the past year.
The sales were part of a routine transaction to cover tax obligations following the vesting of restricted stock unit awards. Following these sales, Greg holds 165,259 shares of Viking Therapeutics.
In addition to the sales, Greg acquired 66,200 shares on January 3, 2025, at no cost. These acquisitions were part of restricted stock unit and performance restricted stock unit awards under the company's equity incentive plan.
In other recent news, Viking Therapeutics has been making significant strides in its clinical programs. The company's VK2809 drug, designed for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), demonstrated significant reductions in liver fat content and improvements in fibrosis in its Phase 2b clinical trial.
Meanwhile, Viking's VK2735, a candidate for weight management, has shown promising results in Phase II and Phase I trials, leading to significant weight loss results and favorable gastrointestinal tolerability. The drug's progression to a Phase 2a clinical trial is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Viking Therapeutics also reported a net loss of $24.9 million in Q3 2024, with research and development expenses of $22.8 million. Despite this, the company's cash and equivalents remain robust at $930 million, supporting its future clinical trials.
In the analyst arena, B.Riley initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics with a Buy rating and a price target of $109.00, citing confidence in Viking's lead program, VK2735. The firm expects forthcoming updates on manufacturing capacity and competitive positioning to drive significant value for Viking by the end of 2025.
Notably, Piper Sandler gave Viking Therapeutics an Overweight rating, highlighting the promising results of Viking's Phase 2 study for its weight loss drug candidate, VK2735. The firm also emphasized the encouraging data suggesting that higher doses of VK2735 could lead to increased weight loss, which is significant in the highly lucrative obesity market.
Lastly, Viking's shares fell 5.5% following the announcement of a licensing agreement between Hansoh Pharma and Merck (NS:PROR), which introduces a potential competitor to Viking's product. However, Viking Therapeutics' stocks soared 12% following the announcement of disappointing results from Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO)'s obesity drug trial, benefiting competitors in the sector.
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