Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 2.6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) were down 2.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $63.72 and last traded at $64.14. Approximately 433,789 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 4,368,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VKTX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -70.24 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.34.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value 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 $163,257,979.41. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 29,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 3,866 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,841,000 after buying an additional 525,296 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $100,157,000 after buying an additional 97,552 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $976,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. 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.