Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $116.00 to $138.00. The stock had previously closed at $69.19, but opened at $77.51. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $81.71, with a volume of 5,346,560 shares.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.90, for a total transaction of $268,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 180,730 shares in the company, valued at $3,235,067. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.90, for a total value of $268,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 180,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,235,067. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total value of $838,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,264,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,243,923.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 374,079 shares of company stock worth $9,729,653. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $100,157,000 after purchasing an additional 97,552 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,841,000 after acquiring an additional 525,296 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 29,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 3,866 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 55,236 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 13,784 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus ETF Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 4,817 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.31.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25). During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.