Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 0.4% – Here’s Why

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) fell 0.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $63.54 and last traded at $63.83. 449,465 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 4,422,106 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VKTX. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James boosted 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.78. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.63 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,535. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813 over the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 339,726 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,322,000 after purchasing an additional 196,015 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $545,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $271,000. Bellevue Group AG bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $326,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,727,000 after purchasing an additional 311,681 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.