Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) dropped 1.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $40.77 and last traded at $41.70. Approximately 919,009 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 4,468,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.25.
Several research analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. B. Riley assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $109.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $106.75.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on VKTX
The firm has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.89 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $57.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.81.
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.
In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,687 shares of company stock worth $11,115,671 over the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,478,000 after acquiring an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,322,000 after acquiring an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $8,316,000 after purchasing an additional 62,956 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.
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.
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