Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 5% – Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) fell 5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $26.42 and last traded at $26.59. 1,140,368 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 3,952,332 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Maxim Group dropped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.18.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.8 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.85. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -25.65 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 2.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,251 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,304,000 after acquiring an additional 44,122 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $279,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 129,345 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,189,000 after acquiring an additional 15,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $884,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.