Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives $87.50 Average Price Target from Analysts

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 been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two 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 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.50.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction of $118,466.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at $10,484,146.95. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 16,302 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Management Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $241,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 9,209.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 24,130 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $429,000. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 12.8%

Shares of VKTX traded up $2.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,289,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,619,247. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $18.92 and a 52-week high of $81.73. The company's 50-day moving average is $30.57 and its 200-day moving average is $28.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.02 and a beta of 0.73.

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

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.