Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 0.8% Following Insider Selling

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded down 0.8% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $68.11 and last traded at $68.28. 895,942 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 4,491,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.85.

Specifically, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VKTX. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -73.63 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.76 and a 200-day moving average of $61.87.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.