Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 0.6% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price was down 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $29.10 and last traded at $29.27. Approximately 643,083 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 3,965,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.16 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % 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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,464,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,615,000 after buying an additional 1,108,972 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,540,000 after buying an additional 1,029,125 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $24,888,000. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3,373.4% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 448,732 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $18,057,000 after acquiring an additional 435,813 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently 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.