Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 3.3%

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded down 3.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $64.11 and last traded at $64.88. 1,316,518 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 4,533,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on VKTX. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 6.2 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of -67.68 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total value of $397,404.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $662,340. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,340. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.