Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 3.7% – Time to Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price fell 3.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $28.43 and last traded at $28.73. 741,261 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 3,972,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. Maxim Group lowered their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.41. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.01 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 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 transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in 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 worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.