Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) fell 0.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $41.61 and last traded at $42.28. 442,170 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 4,461,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.54 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.72.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total transaction of $10,088,541.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at $11,442,929.26. This trade represents a 46.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,687 shares of company stock valued at $11,115,671 over the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% in the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.