Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares traded down 1.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $62.80 and last traded at $63.86. 2,029,527 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 4,492,790 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.67 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.78.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total value of $7,426,846.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,954,196.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total value of $7,426,846.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,954,196.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 525,473 shares of company stock worth $37,088,158. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

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.