Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives $87.15 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Buy" from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.15.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $747,514.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante 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 $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405 over the last three months. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Quarry LP increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $28.16. The stock had a trading volume of 2,383,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,029,883. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $18.92 and a 1-year high of $81.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.49 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.10). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. Viking Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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.