Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives $112.25 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $112.25.

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,413,639.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 642,260 shares of company stock worth $35,054,299 over the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,157,000 after buying an additional 97,552 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,202,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,379,000 after purchasing an additional 822,156 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 1,279,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,159,000 after purchasing an additional 154,000 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,727,000 after acquiring an additional 311,681 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,841,000 after buying an additional 525,296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $78.21 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.99 and a 200-day moving average of $38.37.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current 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.