Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 1.5% – Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) fell 1.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $49.90 and last traded at $50.74. 1,199,724 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 4,487,255 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.23.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $1,889,000. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $239,000. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 23.2% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 9,154 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. 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.