Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Upgraded at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays upgraded Viking Therapeutics to “strong buy,” while UBS initiated coverage with a “buy” rating. Overall, analysts rate the stock “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus price target of $99.44.
• Viking shares opened at $25.47, near their 52-week low of $25.28, and the company reported quarterly EPS of negative $1.10, beating estimates of negative $1.21.
• Institutional investors own 76.03% of the stock, including a new $241.5 million BlackRock position. Executives sold shares primarily to cover tax obligations tied to vested equity awards.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Barclays to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on VKTX. UBS Group assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Oppenheimer set a $120.00 price objective on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.44.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $25.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.47 and a beta of 0.66. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $32.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.13. Viking Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $25.28 and a fifty-two week high of $43.15.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.21) by $0.11. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.58) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total value of $4,948,586.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,572,441 shares in the company, valued at $85,713,734.12. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $710,132.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 212,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,102,467.88. This represents a 9.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 187,951 shares of company stock valued at $6,268,442 in the last quarter. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $241,458,000. Artia Global Partners LP raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 392.1% during the fourth quarter. Artia Global Partners LP now owns 719,365 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $25,307,000 after acquiring an additional 573,186 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $22,393,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 18.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 542,516 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $17,653,000 after purchasing an additional 82,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $20,699,000. 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 focused on developing therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's research programs are aimed at conditions including obesity, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and other diseases involving the liver and metabolism.

Viking's leading program is VK2735, an investigational dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors.

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