Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 0.6% – What’s Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price dropped 0.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $52.17 and last traded at $53.11. Approximately 864,190 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 4,514,457 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VKTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $109.73.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -57.11 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $63.24 and its 200 day moving average is $59.91.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This trade represents a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 296.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 11,362 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $240,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% during the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 38,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $741,000. 76.03% of the stock is 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.