Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 8.9% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) dropped 8.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $41.60 and last traded at $42.55. Approximately 3,733,282 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 4,415,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VKTX. B. Riley assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 2.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of -45.82 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $58.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. The trade was a 46.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 144,687 shares of company stock worth $11,115,671. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 112.7% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,750 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $835,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 308,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,351,000 after purchasing an additional 63,206 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 272.0% in the 2nd quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 31,920 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 23,340 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 407,256 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,589,000 after purchasing an additional 58,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 71.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 25,128 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 10,447 shares during the last quarter. 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.