Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives $112.38 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight 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 price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $112.38.

VKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $52.74 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.58. The stock has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.71 and a beta of 1.04. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.