Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded down 0.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $41.61 and last traded at $42.28. 442,170 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 4,461,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on VKTX shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.54 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.52.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. This represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,687 shares of company stock worth $11,115,671 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 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.