Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Wall Street’s consensus rating is “Moderate Buy”: Of 14 analysts, eight rate VKTX a buy, two a strong buy, three a hold, and one a sell. The average 12-month price target is $93.36.
• Institutional investors hold 76.03% of shares. BlackRock and several other investors established new positions, while Marshall Wace substantially increased its stake.
• Viking Therapeutics reported a quarterly loss of $1.55 per share, missing analysts’ estimate of a $1.06 loss. The clinical-stage company is developing treatments for obesity and other metabolic and endocrine disorders.

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $93.36.

Several research firms have commented on VKTX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Sunday, October 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $241,458,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $22,393,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $20,699,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1,027.2% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 482,060 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $15,715,000 after acquiring an additional 439,293 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $15,910,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 5.9%

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $29.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of -5.41 and a beta of 0.79. 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 $43.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.06) by ($0.49). During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.81) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -5.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, California. Founded in 2012, it develops medicines for metabolic and endocrine disorders and does not have commercially marketed products. The company's pipeline includes VK2735, an investigational drug that targets the GLP-1 and GIP receptors and is being developed for obesity, and VK2809, a thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist being studied for metabolic and liver conditions. Viking is also developing VK0214 for X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare genetic disorder.

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