Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 1.6% – Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares fell 1.6% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $29.82 and last traded at $30.38. 731,128 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 3,974,455 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Maxim Group lowered their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $32.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of -30.64 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.6% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 8,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,202 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $235,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 18.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,997 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $382,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $206,000. Institutional investors 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.