Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 2.9% - Should You Sell?

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) fell 2.9% on Friday . The company traded as low as $50.95 and last traded at $52.03. 2,068,650 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 4,519,647 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VKTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.95 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.69 and a 200-day moving average of $61.60.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. Research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 506,687 shares of company stock valued at $36,029,679. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $837,000. Nvwm LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,322,000 after acquiring an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,143 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Finally, Nepsis Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,251,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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