Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 9% - Here's Why

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $24.44 and last traded at $25.44. Approximately 3,862,980 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 4,018,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on VKTX. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Maxim Group reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.31.

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Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 4.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.08 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $32.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 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 $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

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