Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 0.7%

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) dropped 0.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $65.50 and last traded at $66.46. Approximately 895,707 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 5,913,449 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James increased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.2 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of -72.25 and a beta of 1.05.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25). During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.26) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total value of $838,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,264,882 shares in the company, valued at $54,243,923.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total value of $838,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,264,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,243,923.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 359,079 shares of company stock worth $9,461,153. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Retirement Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.0% in the second quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,346 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $63,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently 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.