Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 5.6% – Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price was down 5.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $59.33 and last traded at $59.42. Approximately 1,764,845 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 4,492,938 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed 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 on the stock. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.7 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.66. The firm has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.61 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % 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 hyperlink. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 506,687 shares of company stock valued at $36,029,679 over the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 168,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $13,825,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 77.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 45,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,756,000 after buying an additional 20,023 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 34.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 344,825 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,276,000 after purchasing an additional 88,192 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 195.9% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,942 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 4,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $377,000. Institutional investors 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.