Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 2%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $74.28 and last traded at $74.95. 633,830 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 6,221,846 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on VKTX. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.48 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $57.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.99.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.25). During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total transaction of $838,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,264,882 shares in the company, valued at $54,243,923.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 359,079 shares of company stock valued at $9,461,153 over the last three months. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 924.4% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 82,099 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 74,085 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $148,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 73.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 359,585 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,981,000 after buying an additional 151,826 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 48.5% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 89,741 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $993,000 after buying an additional 29,319 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.