Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 2.9% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) dropped 2.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $52.80 and last traded at $52.94. Approximately 1,536,315 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 4,509,639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on VKTX shares. B. Riley started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $62.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of -56.92 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,565,000 after buying an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd boosted 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 valued at $80,350,000 after acquiring an additional 452,344 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,677,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $11,251,000. 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.