Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Target Raised at Canaccord Genuity Group

Key Points

• Canaccord Genuity raised Viking Therapeutics’ price target to $118 from $106 and maintained a “buy” rating, implying 332.55% potential upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but generally positive: MarketBeat reports a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $93.36.
• Viking reported a quarterly loss of $1.55 per share, missing the $1.06 consensus estimate. The stock opened at $27.28, while institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of shares.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from $106.00 to $118.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. Canaccord Genuity Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 332.55% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VKTX. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Viking Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Viking Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.36.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $27.28 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $30.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 7.27, a current ratio of 7.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $23.82 and a 52-week high of $43.15.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.55) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.06) by ($0.49). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.81) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -5.26 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 6,660 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 13.6% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,870 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.3% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 142,790 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,570,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.6% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,533 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,445 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

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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