Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Price Target Cut to $122.00 by Analysts at Raymond James Financial

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Raymond James Financial from $125.00 to $122.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "strong-buy" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. Raymond James Financial's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 257.61% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on VKTX. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 2.1%

Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $0.72 during trading on Thursday, hitting $34.12. The stock had a trading volume of 5,859,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,094,981. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73. The stock's 50 day moving average is $28.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.62 and a beta of 0.62.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. The business's revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405 in the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 24.0% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 51,925 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,476,000 after acquiring an additional 10,048 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 6.9% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 330,007 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $8,745,000 after buying an additional 21,442 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.2% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 22,600 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. 111 Capital increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 62.4% in the second quarter. 111 Capital now owns 14,474 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 5,559 shares during the period. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 42.9% in the second quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,660 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 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.

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