Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 0.6% – Should You Sell?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company 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 target price on the stock. Maxim Group dropped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 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 $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. FIL Ltd grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 851 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.