Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $30.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on VKTX. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 6.8 %

VKTX stock opened at $21.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of -21.52 and a beta of 0.84. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.49.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $1,715,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,316,000 after acquiring an additional 62,956 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 122.4% during the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 80,602 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 44,365 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 103.1% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 21,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $475,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.