Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $46.70, but opened at $43.09. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $42.37, with a volume of 2,250,599 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of -44.61 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,687 shares of company stock worth $11,115,671 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,576,000 after purchasing an additional 136,729 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 296.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $962,000 after acquiring an additional 11,362 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 38,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.