Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 0% – Time to Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares traded down 0% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $27.70 and last traded at $28.34. 587,745 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 3,950,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Maxim Group cut their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank started coverage on 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. Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued 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 $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $31.24 and a 200 day moving average of $47.91. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of -28.19 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 18.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,997 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $190,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $206,000. Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $844,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,251 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,789,000 after buying an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 144.1% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,958 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.