Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 0.6% – Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price traded down 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $29.06 and last traded at $29.37. 1,432,975 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 4,007,619 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VKTX shares. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of 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, Maxim Group decreased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.31.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.45 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business’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 owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during 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 during the period. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,980 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,164,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.