Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 1% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) fell 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $29.76 and last traded at $29.78. 628,826 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 3,958,815 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.89 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $31.49 and its 200 day moving average is $48.04.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 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 $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. FIL Ltd grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. 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.