Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Here's Why

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $23.27 and last traded at $23.84, with a volume of 751035 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.18.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.22 and a beta of 0.84.

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Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the 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. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

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