Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from thirteen research firms, with an average twelve-month price target set at $87.50.
• Insider trading activity shows significant sales from top executives, with CFO Greg Zante and COO Marianna Mancini each selling 4,266 shares in early July, indicating a slight decrease in their ownership stakes.
• Viking Therapeutics reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.58), missing estimates, and its stock has a 52-week high of $81.73 and a low of $18.92.

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.50.

VKTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics 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 owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,484,146.95. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 16,302 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 9,209.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 24,130 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $429,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $24.81 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two week high of $81.73. The stock's 50-day moving average is $31.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.21. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.22 and a beta of 0.73.

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

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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