Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 1% – Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price was down 1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $49.50 and last traded at $49.77. Approximately 710,933 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 4,488,083 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of -54.57 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.23.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $1,889,000. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $239,000. DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 9,154 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.