Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 4.4%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares traded down 4.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $61.66 and last traded at $62.18. 1,597,149 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 4,521,376 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VKTX. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 4.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -66.86 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.19) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $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. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the first 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. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.