Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 2.3% – What’s Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was down 2.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $28.29 and last traded at $28.43. Approximately 1,105,135 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 4,010,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.31.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.9 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.96 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,576,000 after purchasing an additional 136,729 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 712.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 10,489 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 9,198 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $957,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,322,000 after acquiring an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 46,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,270 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.