Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 2.3% - What's Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 2.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $28.29 and last traded at $28.43. Approximately 1,105,135 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 4,010,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.31.

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Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.9 %

The company's 50-day moving average is $32.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.20. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 in the company, valued at $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $604,000. Lighthouse Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $563,000. United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 47,547 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $170,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.