Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) shares fell 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $41.61 and last traded at $42.28. 442,170 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 4,461,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.32.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages recently commented on VKTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began 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. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $106.75.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Viking Therapeutics
Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 0.1 %
The company's 50-day moving average is $56.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.63. The company has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.54 and a beta of 0.89.
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity
In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % 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, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,687 shares of company stock valued at $11,115,671 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.
Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $80,350,000 after acquiring an additional 452,344 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $28,677,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $11,251,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.
About Viking Therapeutics
(
Get Free Report)
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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