Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 3.4% – Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price dropped 3.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $27.55 and last traded at $28.20. Approximately 2,299,423 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 4,521,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.4 %

The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.35 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.89.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% in the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is 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.