Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Down 3.6%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 3.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $72.41 and last traded at $73.14. Approximately 913,562 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 6,163,342 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics 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. Finally, Maxim Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 4.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -79.16 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.25). During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.26) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $54,243,923.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total value of $838,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,264,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,243,923.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 359,079 shares of company stock worth $9,461,153 in the last three months. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 63.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 560,180 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,201,000 after purchasing an additional 217,827 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,284,352 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $58,498,000 after purchasing an additional 171,995 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 924.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 82,099 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 74,085 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $148,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 73.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 359,585 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,981,000 after purchasing an additional 151,826 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.