Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded down 1.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $28.81 and last traded at $28.93. 998,564 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 3,938,253 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 3.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of -30.48 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.97 and its 200-day moving average is $52.88.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.