Wall Street Zen Downgrades Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Viking Therapeutics to “Strong Sell”, contrasting with the broader analyst consensus of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.67.
• VKTX opened at $29.94, near the lower end of its 12-month range of $25.77 to $43.15. The company reported a quarterly loss of $1.10 per share, beating estimates of a $1.21 loss, but analysts expect a full-year loss of $4.47 per share.
• Viking insiders sold approximately $6.27 million of stock over the past 90 days, including sales by the CEO and COO to cover tax obligations tied to equity awards; institutional investors own 76.03% of the company.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on VKTX. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research raised Viking Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $120.00 target price on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.9%

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $29.94 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $25.77 and a 12-month high of $43.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.42 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.46.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 company's quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.58) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,217 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $609,722.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $4,948,586.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,572,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $85,713,734.12. This represents a 5.46% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,951 shares of company stock worth $6,268,442. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 13.6% during 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 period. RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,533 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,445 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 6,650 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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