Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Earns Outperform Rating from Oppenheimer

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $138.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price suggests a potential upside of 113.42% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX stock traded up $2.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,946,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,518,906. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.53 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $54,295,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by 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.