Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 4% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price dropped 4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $24.17 and last traded at $24.64. Approximately 1,061,747 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 3,890,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.18.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.22 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.77 and its 200 day moving average is $45.78.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued 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 in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 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 transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $672,629,000 after acquiring an additional 96,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $75,704,000 after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares during the period. Braidwell LP increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,542,000 after purchasing an additional 322,689 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,540,000 after buying an additional 1,029,125 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,615,000 after buying an additional 1,108,972 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.