Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $108.60.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $135,596,696.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $135,596,696.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, 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 worth $33,810,813. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after buying an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.4% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,086 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 3,625 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $60.39 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $62.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.67. The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.94 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.19) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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.