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

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

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $27,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $61.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -66.27 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $60.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.84. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $8.28 and a 1-year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly 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 period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

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.