Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 9% – What’s Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) dropped 9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $24.44 and last traded at $25.44. Approximately 3,862,980 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 4,018,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.31.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 0.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of -29.73 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $32.66 and its 200-day moving average is $49.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% during 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 during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. 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.