BTIG Research Reaffirms Buy Rating for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Key Points

• Viking Therapeutics received a "buy" rating from BTIG Research, with a price target of $125.00, indicating a potential upside of 373.04% from its current stock price.
• Analysts' ratings show a consensus of "buy" for Viking Therapeutics, with two analysts rating it as Strong Buy, ten as Buy, and two as Hold, maintaining a consensus price target of $90.38.
• Insider trading indicates sells from the COO and CFO, who sold shares at around $27.77 and $27.76 respectively, leading to a decrease in their positions.

BTIG Research reiterated their buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $125.00 price objective on the biotechnology company's stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on VKTX. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.38.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $26.25. The stock had a trading volume of 7,859,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,417,863. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of -17.16 and a beta of 0.73. Viking Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $18.92 and a 12 month high of $81.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.07.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 period last year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics's revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $46,846,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 6,315.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 596,650 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $15,811,000 after purchasing an additional 587,350 shares during the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $14,556,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $12,201,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $9,283,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.