Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Sets New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $29.30 and last traded at $29.52, with a volume of 651898 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on VKTX. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of -29.32 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.78 and a 200 day moving average of $53.26.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 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 value of $2,150,709.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 in the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.