Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 1.3% - Time to Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) shares fell 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $28.81 and last traded at $28.93. 998,564 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 3,938,253 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VKTX. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Maxim Group lowered their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company's 50 day moving average price is $37.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of -30.48 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. Analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 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 transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, CNB Bank purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

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.