Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives $86.92 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Key Points

• Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has received an average "Buy" rating from fourteen brokerages, with an average 12-month price objective of $86.92.
• Recent analyst actions include Raymond James lowering its price target from $125.00 to $122.00 while maintaining a "strong-buy" rating, and Citigroup increasing its price objective from $31.00 to $38.00.
• Viking Therapeutics' CFO and COO both sold 4,266 shares of the company stock in July, which has contributed to a 2.47% and 1.12% decrease in their respective ownership stakes.

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Buy" by the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.92.

Several research firms recently issued reports on VKTX. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial reduced 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 research note on Thursday. 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $34.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,165,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,841,122. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.67. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.50 and a beta of 0.62. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $18.92 and a one year high of $81.73.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $747,514.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,388,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405 over the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $672,629,000 after purchasing an additional 96,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $75,704,000 after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,542,000 after acquiring an additional 322,689 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $54,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108,972 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

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.