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

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.18.

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Maxim Group cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $25.65 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $24.41 and a 12-month high of $82.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.29 and a 200-day moving average of $46.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.65 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics 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 value of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,715,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,316,000 after acquiring an additional 62,956 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,304,000 after acquiring an additional 44,122 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 109.1% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 34,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 17,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 80,602 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 44,365 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.