Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX – Get Free Report) fell 2.2% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $66.18 and last traded at $66.97. 1,007,703 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 4,488,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.48.
Specifically, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have recently weighed in on VKTX. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Raymond James upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.80.
Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.2 %
The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -72.01 and a beta of 1.00.
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.
Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oak Ridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $837,000. Nvwm LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $999,000. Nepsis Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,251,000. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,443,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 628 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.