Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 3.7% - Here's What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) was down 3.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $28.43 and last traded at $28.73. Approximately 741,261 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 3,972,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Maxim Group cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lifted their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.67.

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Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 2.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.95 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.91.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released 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 posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the firm'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 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 represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $672,629,000 after buying an additional 96,008 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $75,704,000 after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,542,000 after purchasing an additional 322,689 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $54,615,000 after buying an additional 1,108,972 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.