Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 3% Following Insider Selling

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares were down 3% on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $67.75 and last traded at $68.33. Approximately 796,078 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 4,522,209 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.47.

Specifically, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $715,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $660,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VKTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 3.0 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a PE ratio of -73.47 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 previous year, the company posted ($0.19) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares during the period. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $294,380,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,727,000 after acquiring an additional 311,681 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,841,000 after acquiring an additional 525,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $78,586,000. Hedge funds and other 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.