Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 0.3%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price traded down 0.3% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $68.22 and last traded at $68.67. 1,135,008 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 5,569,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -79.90 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.39.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 2,264,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,243,923.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 2,264,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,243,923.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the business’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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 329,079 shares of company stock valued at $8,769,653 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caas Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $2,706,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $328,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $37,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gainplan LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $246,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.