Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 1% – What’s Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded down 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $29.76 and last traded at $29.78. 628,826 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 3,958,815 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VKTX. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Maxim Group dropped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 2.1 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.66. The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of -28.95 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 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 $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,316,000 after purchasing an additional 62,956 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,304,000 after buying an additional 44,122 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 109.1% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 34,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after buying an additional 17,754 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 80,602 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 44,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 103.1% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 21,627 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.