Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTXGet Free Report) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $108.60.

VKTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th.

Read Our Latest Analysis on VKTX

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $54,295,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $64.11 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $60.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.77. The company has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.94 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTXGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Viking Therapeutics

(Get Free Report

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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