Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $46.70, but opened at $43.09. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $42.37, with a volume of 2,250,599 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. B. Riley started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.61 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $58.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total transaction of $10,088,541.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This represents a 46.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 144,687 shares of company stock valued at $11,115,671. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,350,000 after buying an additional 452,344 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,677,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Finally, Nepsis Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $11,251,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.