Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 3.7% – Here’s Why

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price fell 3.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $63.79 and last traded at $64.24. 1,225,962 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 4,394,249 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 5.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -67.82 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.64.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $662,340. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 123.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.