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

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Viking Therapeutics, with eight buy ratings, one strong buy, one hold and two sells. The average 12-month price target is $97.88, well above the reported $33.51 share price.
• Company insiders sold approximately $6.27 million in stock during the past quarter, including sales by the CEO and CFO that were attributed to tax withholding obligations from vested equity awards.
• Institutional investors largely remain supportive, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 76.03% of the company. Viking also reported a quarterly loss of $1.10 per share, beating the $1.21 consensus estimate.

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $97.8750.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $89.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 21,217 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total value of $710,132.99. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 212,204 shares in the company, valued at $7,102,467.88. The trade was a 9.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total value of $4,948,586.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,572,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $85,713,734.12. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 187,951 shares of company stock valued at $6,268,442 over the last quarter. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Cornerstone Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $3,334,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 43,400 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,693,000 after buying an additional 7,700 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $341,000. Ballast Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 69.7% during the 1st quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp now owns 19,853 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 8,154 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $33.51 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $34.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of -7.19 and a beta of 0.69. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $22.96 and a 52-week high of $43.15.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.21) by $0.11. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.58) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the company's pipeline leverages small-molecule approaches to target hormone signaling pathways implicated in conditions such as non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and muscle wasting disorders.

The company's lead programs include VK2809, a thyroid hormone receptor‐beta agonist designed to reduce liver fat and improve lipid profiles in patients with NASH and dyslipidemia, and VK5211, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) aimed at enhancing muscle mass and function in individuals with muscle wasting conditions.

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