Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives $106.75 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $106.75.

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 443,701 shares of company stock worth $23,898,520 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Oak Ridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after acquiring an additional 17,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,316,000 after acquiring an additional 62,956 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $40.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of -43.66 and a beta of 0.95. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $19.15 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $50.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.64.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

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.