Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $28.61 and last traded at $28.30, with a volume of 734623 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Maxim Group dropped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 5.2 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.66 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $672,629,000 after buying an additional 96,008 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $75,704,000 after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP raised 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 valued at $59,542,000 after purchasing an additional 322,689 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.