Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 1.6% – What’s Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price was down 1.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $29.82 and last traded at $30.38. Approximately 731,128 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 3,974,455 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VKTX shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Maxim Group reduced their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.46 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.17.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. Analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,316,000 after acquiring an additional 62,956 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,304,000 after purchasing an additional 44,122 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 34,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 17,754 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 122.4% during the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 80,602 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,243,000 after buying an additional 44,365 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 103.1% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after buying an additional 21,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.