Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 2.1% After Insider Selling

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) dropped 2.1% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $73.41 and last traded at $74.85. Approximately 661,352 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 5,469,581 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.43.

Specifically, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 642,260 shares of company stock valued at $35,054,299 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on VKTX. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. BTIG Research raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of -82.76 and a beta of 1.12.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.