Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Cut to Strong Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on VKTX. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer set a $120.00 target price on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.67.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $28.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.09 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.36. Viking Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $25.77 and a 12 month high of $43.15.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.21) by $0.11. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.58) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $4,948,586.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,572,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,713,734.12. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $609,722.99. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 422,760 shares in the company, valued at $14,149,777.20. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 187,951 shares of company stock valued at $6,268,442 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 59,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 2,396 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $3,532,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $1,823,000. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.3% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 142,790 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,570,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.6% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,533 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company’s research programs are aimed at conditions including obesity, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and other diseases involving the liver and metabolism.

Viking’s leading program is VK2735, an investigational dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors.