Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 5% - Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) traded down 5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $26.42 and last traded at $26.59. Approximately 1,140,368 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 3,952,332 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James lifted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.18.

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Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.65 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $30.29 and a 200 day moving average of $46.65.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. 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.