Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Up 1.4% – Time to Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares traded up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $24.12 and last traded at $23.94. 5,025,769 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the average session volume of 4,032,081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VKTX. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Maxim Group dropped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.06 and its 200 day moving average is $42.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.94 and a beta of 0.84.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. FMR LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $672,629,000 after acquiring an additional 96,008 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $75,704,000 after buying an additional 17,046 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,542,000 after acquiring an additional 322,689 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,972 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.