Spotlight on Viking Therapeutics: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity
Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX).
And retail traders should know.
We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.
Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with VKTX, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.
So how do we know what these investors just did?
Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 10 uncommon options trades for Viking Therapeutics.
This isn't normal.
The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 40% bullish and 40%, bearish.
Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $67,500, and 8 are calls, for a total amount of $800,845.
Predicted Price Range
Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $49.0 to $130.0 for Viking Therapeutics over the last 3 months.
Volume & Open Interest Development
Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock.
This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Viking Therapeutics's options for a given strike price.
Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Viking Therapeutics's whale activity within a strike price range from $49.0 to $130.0 in the last 30 days.
Viking Therapeutics 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot
Biggest Options Spotted:
| Symbol | PUT/CALL | Trade Type | Sentiment | Exp. Date | Ask | Bid | Price | Strike Price | Total Trade Price | Open Interest | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VKTX | CALL | TRADE | BEARISH | 01/17/25 | $8.5 | $8.3 | $8.3 | $70.00 | $207.5K | 1.6K | 283 |
| VKTX | CALL | TRADE | NEUTRAL | 01/17/25 | $8.5 | $7.9 | $8.25 | $70.00 | $206.2K | 1.6K | 33 |
| VKTX | CALL | TRADE | BEARISH | 01/16/26 | $17.3 | $14.1 | $14.7 | $75.00 | $147.0K | 434 | 2 |
| VKTX | CALL | SWEEP | BEARISH | 07/19/24 | $0.65 | $0.55 | $0.65 | $65.00 | $69.9K | 4.6K | 8 |
| VKTX | CALL | SWEEP | BULLISH | 01/16/26 | $6.5 | $5.4 | $6.5 | $130.00 | $58.5K | 398 | 10 |
About Viking Therapeutics
Viking Therapeutics Inc is a healthcare service provider. The company specializes in the area of biopharmaceutical development focused on metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's clinical program pipeline consists of VK2809, VK5211, VK0214 products. VK2809 and VK0214 are orally available, tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonists of the thyroid hormone receptor beta. VK5211 is an orally available, non-steroidal selective androgen receptor modulator.
After a thorough review of the options trading surrounding Viking Therapeutics, we move to examine the company in more detail. This includes an assessment of its current market status and performance.
Viking Therapeutics's Current Market Status
- With a volume of 1,472,257, the price of VKTX is up 2.64% at $51.8.
- RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
- Next earnings are expected to be released in 19 days.
Professional Analyst Ratings for Viking Therapeutics
3 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $105.0.
- An analyst from HC Wainwright & Co. downgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $90.
- Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Truist Securities continues to hold a Buy rating for Viking Therapeutics, targeting a price of $120.
- An analyst from Morgan Stanley has revised its rating downward to Overweight, adjusting the price target to $105.
Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.
If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Viking Therapeutics, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.