Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 0.7%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price traded down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $62.64 and last traded at $63.00. 435,885 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 5,724,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.7 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.33.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.25). During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. Research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total value of $7,230,152.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 329,079 shares of company stock valued at $8,769,653. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 125.6% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $355,000. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $93,000. 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.