Brokerages Set Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Price Target at $106.75

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $106.75.

Several research firms have recently commented on VKTX. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. B. Riley initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 443,701 shares of company stock worth $23,898,520. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,576,000 after acquiring an additional 136,729 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 296.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 11,362 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $240,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 38,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after buying an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $39.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of -42.27 and a beta of 0.95. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. Analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 earnings per share 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.