Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 5.2% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Viking Therapeutics shares rose 5.2% to about $29 on Friday, while trading volume was 43% below its daily average.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $93.36, including Canaccord’s raised $118 target.
• The company reported a quarterly loss of $1.55 per share, missing the $1.06 loss analysts expected; institutional investors own about 76% of its shares.

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 5.2% on Friday. The stock traded as high as $28.88 and last traded at $29.0010. 1,871,239 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 3,295,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on VKTX. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Zacks Research raised Viking Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $106.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.36.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 5.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 7.27, a current ratio of 7.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.44 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.18.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.55) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.06) by ($0.49). During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.81) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $241,458,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $22,393,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $20,699,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $15,910,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $14,971,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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