Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 1% - Here's Why

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $47.85 and last traded at $48.61. 1,026,326 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 4,532,492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VKTX. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 4.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of -52.27 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.48 and a 200 day moving average of $61.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total transaction of $10,088,541.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This trade represents a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 377,817 shares of company stock worth $27,607,313. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,619,430 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,052,176,000 after purchasing an additional 79,149 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $294,380,000. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% in the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $80,350,000 after purchasing an additional 452,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Braidwell LP grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,156,977 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $73,248,000 after acquiring an additional 50,072 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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