Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $108.60.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $64.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.94 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $8.28 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.77.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813 in the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 469 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.