Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 3.7% – What’s Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price fell 3.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $28.43 and last traded at $28.73. 741,261 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 3,972,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. Maxim Group lowered their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on 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. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.07 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 prior year, the company earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. 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.