Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 3.3%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price fell 3.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $64.11 and last traded at $64.88. 1,316,518 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 4,533,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 6.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -67.68 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.65.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% during the first quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. 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.