Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $66.63, but opened at $63.90. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $64.25, with a volume of 1,410,565 shares changing hands.

Specifically, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total transaction of $995,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $591,090. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total transaction of $7,426,846.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $154,954,196.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.78.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $54.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.57. The company has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -66.77 and a beta of 1.03.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $294,380,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,727,000 after acquiring an additional 311,681 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,841,000 after buying an additional 525,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $78,586,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.