Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 1.3% - Here's What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) shares dropped 1.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $28.81 and last traded at $28.93. Approximately 998,564 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 3,938,253 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set 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 objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Maxim Group lowered their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 4.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.26 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.48.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was 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 owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 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 transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,464,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $54,615,000 after buying an additional 1,108,972 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,125 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $24,888,000. 76.03% of the stock is 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.