Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 1.2% – Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) fell 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $29.16 and last traded at $29.61. 758,978 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 3,973,510 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Maxim Group cut their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.92.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.42. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.25) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $51,464,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $24,888,000. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $18,443,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 137.0% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 375,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,099,000 after buying an additional 216,873 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.