Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $108.60.

VKTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $54,295,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $64.11 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $60.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.77. The company has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.94 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal 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.