Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Down to $55.32

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $55.32, but opened at $54.01. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $54.88, with a volume of 431,478 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.56.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.64 and its 200-day moving average is $52.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -54.27 and a beta of 1.03.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,059,845.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.