Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $31.00 to $38.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. Citigroup's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.46% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX stock traded up $0.09 on Thursday, hitting $33.49. The company had a trading volume of 4,645,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,087,600. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.10 and a beta of 0.62. The stock's 50-day moving average is $28.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.83. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). The business's quarterly revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the firm'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 value of $118,424.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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