Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Down 4%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares dropped 4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $76.00 and last traded at $76.39. Approximately 1,519,612 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 5,494,025 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 4.2 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.50. The company has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of -82.90 and a beta of 1.05.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were 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 owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 125.6% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.