Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 0.8% - What's Next?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) shares were down 0.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $68.11 and last traded at $68.28. Approximately 895,942 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 4,491,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -73.42 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $64.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.85.

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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $546,535. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total transaction of $7,426,846.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,954,196.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 525,473 shares of company stock valued at $37,088,158 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $638,429,000 after buying an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the 3rd 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. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $54,295,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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