Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 1% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) dropped 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $49.50 and last traded at $49.77. Approximately 710,933 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 4,488,083 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VKTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 0.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of -53.63 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.43 and a 200 day moving average of $59.11.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This trade represents a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,350,000 after acquiring an additional 452,344 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,677,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $11,251,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.