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

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) dropped 2.2% on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $66.18 and last traded at $66.97. Approximately 1,007,703 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 4,488,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.48.

Specifically, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.80. The firm has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -67.71 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.