Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives $106.75 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the thirteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $106.75.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 301,014 shares of company stock worth $12,920,189. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $63,565,000 after buying an additional 994,801 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% in the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $80,350,000 after acquiring an additional 452,344 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $28,677,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,251,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of VKTX stock traded up $0.85 on Friday, hitting $32.37. 6,359,640 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,694,322. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.81 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $22.69 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.34 and a 200 day moving average of $54.32.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.