Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 7.5% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price dropped 7.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $20.75 and last traded at $21.37. Approximately 1,082,953 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 3,960,736 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. B. Riley reissued 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. Citigroup started 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 on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.22 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $29,946. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 6,478 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $958,000. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,242.9% in the first quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Profit Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 59.8% during the 1st quarter. Profit Investment Management LLC now owns 117,769 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,844,000 after acquiring an additional 44,055 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.