Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 2% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price fell 2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $29.52 and last traded at $29.87. 903,330 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 3,903,847 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James boosted 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of -31.63 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results 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 period last year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,322,000 after buying an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,316,000 after buying an additional 62,956 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.