Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.75.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. B. Riley initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 443,701 shares of company stock valued at $23,898,520. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.2 %

VKTX stock opened at $39.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.27 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.61. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

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.