Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 2.5%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) fell 2.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $53.21 and last traded at $53.40. 447,575 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 4,556,659 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on VKTX. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 3.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -65.41 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $57.44 and its 200 day moving average is $63.89.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly 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 last year, the firm earned ($0.19) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475 over the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the 1st 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 position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.