Ventyx Biosciences (NASDAQ:VTYX) Shares Down 3.4% – Here’s Why

Ventyx Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:VTYX) shares were down 3.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $8.73 and last traded at $8.77. Approximately 183,117 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 2,065,083 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VTYX. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ventyx Biosciences from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ventyx Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. HC Wainwright upgraded Ventyx Biosciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Ventyx Biosciences from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Ventyx Biosciences from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Ventyx Biosciences Stock Up 3.2%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.75 and a 200 day moving average of $4.88. The firm has a market cap of $644.38 million, a P/E ratio of -6.02 and a beta of 1.22.

Ventyx Biosciences (NASDAQ:VTYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.13. Research analysts expect that Ventyx Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ventyx Biosciences

In other news, insider John Nuss sold 12,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.72, for a total transaction of $97,851.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 489,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,778,793.32. This represents a 2.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Raju Mohan sold 47,345 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.72, for a total value of $365,503.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,372,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,318,502.36. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 14.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Ventyx Biosciences in the 1st quarter valued at $194,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventyx Biosciences in the first quarter worth $223,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ventyx Biosciences by 925.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 880,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 794,401 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Ventyx Biosciences during the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ventyx Biosciences by 443.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 537,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 438,286 shares during the last quarter. 97.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ventyx Biosciences

Ventyx Biosciences, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops small molecule product candidates to address a range of inflammatory diseases. The company’s lead clinical product candidate is VTX958, a selective allosteric tyrosine kinase type 2 inhibitor for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and Crohn’s disease. It is also developing VTX002, a sphingosine 1 phosphate receptor modulator that is in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of ulcerative colitis; and VTX2735, a peripheral-targeted NOD-like receptor protein 3 inflammasome inhibitor to treat patients with cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome.