Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 0%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded down 0% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $67.30 and last traded at $67.94. 554,093 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 5,856,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on VKTX shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Raymond James lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of -70.29 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.25). During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.26) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total value of $7,230,152.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at $58,707,779.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 329,079 shares of company stock valued at $8,769,653 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 7.2% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 166,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 11,200 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 32,893 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 5,606 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 325,748 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 67,835 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,147,461 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,442,000 after purchasing an additional 27,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 29.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,375,485 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,126,000 after purchasing an additional 312,377 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.