Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) fell 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $53.88 and last traded at $54.51. 1,186,695 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 4,518,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 7.4 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.60 and a 200-day moving average of $61.42.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total transaction of $995,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $591,090. This trade represents a 62.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 506,687 shares of company stock valued at $36,029,679 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after buying an additional 2,403,820 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 994,801 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth approximately $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $54,295,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.