Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 2.2%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price traded down 2.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $62.65 and last traded at $63.26. 614,230 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 5,759,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.93 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.43.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.25). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total transaction of $838,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,264,882 shares in the company, valued at $54,243,923.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,079 shares of company stock worth $8,769,653 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 63.6% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 560,180 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,201,000 after acquiring an additional 217,827 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1,557.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 371,604 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,916,000 after acquiring an additional 349,186 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 100.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 137,583 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,560,000 after acquiring an additional 68,921 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 3.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,284,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $58,498,000 after acquiring an additional 171,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 924.4% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 82,099 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 74,085 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.