Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 6.9% – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares traded down 6.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $21.53 and last traded at $22.55. 1,623,664 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 3,901,231 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VKTX. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Maxim Group decreased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.18.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.62 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan acquired 1,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % 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 valued at $12,782,849 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.