Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 6.9% – Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) traded down 6.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $21.53 and last traded at $22.55. Approximately 1,623,664 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 3,901,231 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VKTX. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.18.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 6.6 %

The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.62 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,946. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently 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.