Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price was down 1.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $48.40 and last traded at $48.91. Approximately 1,346,447 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 4,532,650 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.58.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VKTX shares. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.1 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $64.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.59 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,340. This trade represents a 37.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,455. This represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 377,817 shares of company stock valued at $27,607,313. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 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.