Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 1% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Viking Therapeutics' stock recently rose by 1% to $33.91, with a trading volume decline of 28% compared to its average.
• Wall Street analysts have given Viking Therapeutics a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with a price target averaging $86.42.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a loss of ($0.58) EPS, below the consensus estimate, with expectations for a loss of -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $34.41 and last traded at $33.91. Approximately 3,517,733 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 4,871,638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.42.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average is $29.29 and its 200 day moving average is $28.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of -22.16 and a beta of 0.64.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.20) EPS. Viking Therapeutics's revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $46,846,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 4.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,476,314 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $39,122,000 after acquiring an additional 58,191 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 27.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 822,278 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $21,790,000 after acquiring an additional 174,887 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 52.8% during the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 638,204 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $16,912,000 after acquiring an additional 220,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 59.2% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 597,515 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $14,430,000 after acquiring an additional 222,293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

About Viking Therapeutics

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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