Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 4.8% – Time to Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares were down 4.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $33.11 and last traded at $33.18. Approximately 1,010,067 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 2,927,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 0.3 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.11 and a beta of 0.95.

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. Research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,442,929.26. This represents a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value 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 $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. Insiders sold 443,701 shares of company stock valued at $23,898,520 in the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,619,430 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,052,176,000 after purchasing an additional 79,149 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,350,000 after purchasing an additional 452,344 shares during the period. Braidwell LP increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,156,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $73,248,000 after purchasing an additional 50,072 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,902,000 after buying an additional 143,675 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

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.