Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 4.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 4.9% during mid-day trading on Monday after Maxim Group lowered their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $70.00. Maxim Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Viking Therapeutics traded as low as $31.00 and last traded at $30.97. 886,719 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 3,895,525 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.56.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VKTX. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $190,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,036 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,955 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,190 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.3 %

The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $37.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.48 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.