Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 2.7% - Time to Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) shares fell 2.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $48.70 and last traded at $49.00. 659,992 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 4,452,849 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on VKTX. B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 4.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.69 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.95 and a 200 day moving average of $58.85.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. Research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $63,565,000 after buying an additional 994,801 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $80,350,000 after purchasing an additional 452,344 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $28,677,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,251,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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