Behind the Scenes of Viking Therapeutics's Latest Options Trends

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Viking Therapeutics 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 21 uncommon options trades for Viking Therapeutics.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 66% bullish and 33%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 4 are puts, for a total amount of $160,415, and 17 are calls, for a total amount of $1,520,300.

Expected Price Movements

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $15.0 and $135.0 for Viking Therapeutics, spanning the last three months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Viking Therapeutics options trades today is 2042.94 with a total volume of 5,626.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Viking Therapeutics's big money trades within a strike price range of $15.0 to $135.0 over the last 30 days.

Viking Therapeutics Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Significant Options Trades Detected:

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.

Present Market Standing of Viking Therapeutics

• With a volume of 4,637,933, the price of VKTX is up 2.31% at $82.7.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 28 days.

What Analysts Are Saying About Viking Therapeutics

A total of 5 professional analysts have given their take on this stock in the last 30 days, setting an average price target of $110.2.

• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from BTIG continues to hold a Buy rating for Viking Therapeutics, targeting a price of $100.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Truist Securities keeps a Buy rating on Viking Therapeutics with a target price of $120.
• In a cautious move, an analyst from HC Wainwright & Co. downgraded its rating to Buy, setting a price target of $90.
• An analyst from Oppenheimer has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Viking Therapeutics, which currently sits at a price target of $116.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from BTIG keeps a Buy rating on Viking Therapeutics with a target price of $125.

Trading options involves greater risks but also offers the potential for higher profits. Savvy traders mitigate these risks through ongoing education, strategic trade adjustments, utilizing various indicators, and staying attuned to market dynamics. Keep up with the latest options trades for Viking Therapeutics with Benzinga Pro for real-time alerts.