Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 2.9% - Here's Why

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 2.9% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $27.36 and last traded at $27.28. 750,883 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 4,550,613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on VKTX. Maxim Group reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.31.

Remove Ads

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.96. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.10 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 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 transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 96,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $75,704,000 after acquiring an additional 17,046 shares during the period. Braidwell LP grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,542,000 after acquiring an additional 322,689 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings 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 worth $54,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108,972 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.