Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Friday. The company traded as low as $24.67 and last traded at $24.6650, with a volume of 653,357 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on VKTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $114.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Viking Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Sunday, October 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.10.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of -5.36 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.84.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.21) by $0.11. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.58) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 21,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $710,132.99. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 212,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,102,467.88. This represents a 9.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $4,948,586.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,572,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,713,734.12. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 187,951 shares of company stock worth $6,268,442 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 19,229 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 2,280 shares during the last quarter. T3 Companies LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 65.4% during the 3rd quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 14,164 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 5,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $245,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 2012, the company develops therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders, with a focus on conditions involving obesity, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and other liver and lipid disorders.

Viking’s lead program is VK2735, an investigational dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist being developed in injectable and oral formulations for obesity and related metabolic conditions.