Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $23.27 and last traded at $23.84, with a volume of 751035 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on VKTX. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, Maxim Group cut their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.18.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.50. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.94 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued 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) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 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 value of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,304,000 after buying an additional 44,122 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $884,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 548.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 35,252 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,173,000 after buying an additional 29,819 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 24,630 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 4,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $243,000. Institutional investors 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.