Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 0.7% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) were down 0.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $64.70 and last traded at $65.31. Approximately 298,768 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 4,354,452 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. Raymond James raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of -70.23 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.23.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.19) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $715,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,596,696.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 123.8% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the period. 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.