Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 6.3%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares traded down 6.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $61.60 and last traded at $61.84. 2,015,704 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 4,828,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VKTX. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.78.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of -66.49 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.70.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.19) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at $13,059,845.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $37,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $61,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.