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

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $108.60.

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $64.96 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $8.28 and a 12 month high of $99.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.79. The stock has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.85 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.19) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. 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.