Analysts Set Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Target Price at $87.15

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $87.15.

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $28.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.49 and a beta of 0.62. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.10). The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $747,514.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. 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.