Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 2%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $64.50 and last traded at $65.17. Approximately 911,268 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 5,809,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Maxim Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective 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 assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of -70.29 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.97 and a 200 day moving average of $32.90.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,264,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,243,923.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 359,079 shares of company stock valued at $9,461,153. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 217,827 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1,557.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 371,604 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,916,000 after buying an additional 349,186 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 100.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 137,583 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,560,000 after buying an additional 68,921 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 3.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,284,352 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $58,498,000 after buying an additional 171,995 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 924.4% during 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. 76.03% of the stock is 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.