Canaccord Genuity Group Has Lowered Expectations for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price

Key Points

• Canaccord Genuity lowered Viking Therapeutics’ price target from $114 to $106 but maintained a “buy” rating, implying roughly 303% upside from the stock’s previous close.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with MarketBeat reporting a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $98.10, despite mixed ratings and several recent target reductions.
• VKTX shares rose 5.1% to $26.32 during Tuesday trading. The company remains clinical-stage and posted a quarterly loss of $1.10 per share, though it beat analysts’ estimates.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from $114.00 to $106.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. Canaccord Genuity Group's price objective suggests a potential upside of 302.70% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on VKTX. Wall Street Zen downgraded Viking Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Viking Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.10.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 5.1%

NASDAQ VKTX traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $26.32. 1,681,687 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,238,660. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.68 and a beta of 0.66. Viking Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $24.94 and a 12-month high of $43.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.00 and a 200 day moving average of $33.01.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.21) by $0.11. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.58) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,217 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $609,722.99. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 422,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,149,777.20. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 21,217 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $710,132.99. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 212,204 shares in the company, valued at $7,102,467.88. The trade was a 9.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 187,951 shares of company stock worth $6,268,442 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $245,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 117.9% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 3,292 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,781 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 59,900.0% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 2,396 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,532,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,823,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 2012, the company develops therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders, with a focus on conditions involving obesity, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and other liver and lipid disorders.

Viking's lead program is VK2735, an investigational dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist being developed in injectable and oral formulations for obesity and related metabolic conditions.

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