Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 2.9% – Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price was down 2.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $50.95 and last traded at $52.03. Approximately 2,068,650 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 4,519,647 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VKTX. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 7.4 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of -53.31 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total value of $7,426,846.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,954,196.60. This trade represents a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 506,687 shares of company stock worth $36,029,679 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 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.