Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Lifted to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on VKTX. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Maxim Group reissued a buy rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They set a buy rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 7.9 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $74.31 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -79.90 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.39. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 329,079 shares of company stock worth $8,769,653. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $78,586,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 59.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,202,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,379,000 after buying an additional 822,156 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,341,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,841,000 after acquiring an additional 525,296 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 194.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 765,320 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,472,000 after buying an additional 505,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.