Analysts Set Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Target Price at $112.25

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $112.25.

VKTX has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. BTIG Research upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $76.97 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of -82.76 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.69. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total value of $7,230,152.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 642,260 shares of company stock valued at $35,054,299. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% during the first quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 125.6% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.