Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.9231.

A number of equities analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total value of $118,424.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 58.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 42.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $24.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of -15.92 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average is $31.29 and its 200 day moving average is $28.77. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $18.92 and a 52 week high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.20) EPS. Viking Therapeutics’s revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

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.