Brokerages Set Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) PT at $97.29

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $97.29.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $28.87 on Wednesday. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $27.20 and a 52 week high of $96.74. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.87 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.15.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.