Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Upgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

VKTX has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They set a buy rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a buy rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Maxim Group restated a buy rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $111.56.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 4.4 %

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $53.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of -57.00 and a beta of 1.04. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $63.37 and a 200-day moving average of $51.71.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at $13,059,845.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $239,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $1,889,000. Artal Group S.A. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $20,817,000. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 28,154.0% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 91,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,507,000 after purchasing an additional 91,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,566,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.