Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 0.7% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) were down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $64.70 and last traded at $65.31. Approximately 298,768 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 4,354,452 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.29 and a 200-day moving average of $62.14. The company has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -70.47 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.19) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $55,098,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $54,295,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $48,970,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.