Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 2.9% – Time to Sell?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Maxim Group dropped their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.76 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.85.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the business’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 $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. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the fourth 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. 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.