Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 1.8% - Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) traded down 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $48.22 and last traded at $48.30. 416,359 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 4,437,342 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.7 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.03 and a 200 day moving average of $58.61. The firm has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.47 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $715,850.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $660,250. The trade was a 52.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 253 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.