Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Morgan Stanley

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $105.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 72.61% from the stock’s previous close.

VKTX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 11.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $60.83 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $57.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.89. The company has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of -65.41 and a beta of 1.00. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.19) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total value of $397,404.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $662,340. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,340. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in 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. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $37,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $61,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.