Ventyx Biosciences’ (VTYX) Market Perform Rating Reaffirmed at Lifesci Capital

Lifesci Capital reissued their market perform rating on shares of Ventyx Biosciences (NASDAQ:VTYX) in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $14.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ventyx Biosciences from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ventyx Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $14.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Ventyx Biosciences in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $14.00 price objective (down from $16.00) on shares of Ventyx Biosciences in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Ventyx Biosciences from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $14.00.

Ventyx Biosciences Price Performance

Ventyx Biosciences stock opened at $13.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $987.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.23 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.20. Ventyx Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $0.78 and a fifty-two week high of $25.00.

Ventyx Biosciences (NASDAQ:VTYX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.13. As a group, analysts predict that Ventyx Biosciences will post -2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventyx Biosciences

In other news, insider John Nuss sold 12,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.72, for a total value of $97,851.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 489,481 shares in the company, valued at $3,778,793.32. This trade represents a 2.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Raju Mohan sold 47,345 shares of Ventyx Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.72, for a total value of $365,503.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,372,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,318,502.36. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 14.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventyx Biosciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,707,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ventyx Biosciences by 19.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,769,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,725,000 after buying an additional 607,725 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Ventyx Biosciences in the second quarter valued at $5,129,000. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its holdings in Ventyx Biosciences by 2.5% during the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 2,050,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,376,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Ventyx Biosciences by 17.5% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,651,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,137,000 after buying an additional 246,040 shares during the last quarter. 97.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Ventyx Biosciences News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ventyx Biosciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Lilly agreed to acquire Ventyx for $14.00 per share in an all-cash deal (~$1.2 billion), providing a near-term cash exit and strategic validation of Ventyx’s small-molecule inflammation pipeline. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple analysts reiterated market-perform/equal-weight ratings with $14 price targets that align with the deal price, suggesting limited analyst upside absent a higher bid or revised guidance. (Wells Fargo and Lifesci Capital coverage noted.)
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms have launched investigations into the transaction and potential securities issues — Edelson Lechtzin, Brodsky & Smith, Pomerantz, Halper Sadeh, and Ademi — alleging possible misleading disclosures or breaches of fiduciary duty; these actions could lead to litigation, delay, or pressure for a higher bid. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Canaccord Genuity downgraded Ventyx, adding downward analyst pressure that may weigh on sentiment around the deal and any potential competing bids. Read More.

Ventyx Biosciences Company Profile

Ventyx Biosciences, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops small molecule product candidates to address a range of inflammatory diseases. The company’s lead clinical product candidate is VTX958, a selective allosteric tyrosine kinase type 2 inhibitor for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and Crohn’s disease. It is also developing VTX002, a sphingosine 1 phosphate receptor modulator that is in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of ulcerative colitis; and VTX2735, a peripheral-targeted NOD-like receptor protein 3 inflammasome inhibitor to treat patients with cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome.