Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $34.73, but opened at $32.90. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $33.53, with a volume of 1,146,001 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.42.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.5%

The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.92 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.39.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics’s revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 16,302 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 19.4% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,491,000 after acquiring an additional 23,481 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 50.9% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 27,584 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 9,308 shares in the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.4% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 141.6% during the first quarter. CNB Bank now owns 5,330 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 3,124 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently 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.