Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $25.76 and last traded at $25.8630, with a volume of 3,053,937 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer set a $120.00 price objective on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Viking Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Viking Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.44.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 3.4%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.64 and a 200-day moving average of $33.19. The company has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.54 and a beta of 0.66.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.21) by $0.11. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.58) EPS. Viking Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 21,217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total value of $710,132.99. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 212,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,102,467.88. The trade was a 9.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,217 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total value of $609,722.99. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 422,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,149,777.20. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 187,951 shares of company stock worth $6,268,442 in the last 90 days. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $251,884,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $241,458,000. Artia Global Partners LP lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 392.1% in the fourth quarter. Artia Global Partners LP now owns 719,365 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,307,000 after buying an additional 573,186 shares during the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $22,393,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $20,699,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company’s research programs are aimed at conditions including obesity, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and other diseases involving the liver and metabolism.

Viking’s leading program is VK2735, an investigational dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors.