Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrades Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) to “Strong-Buy”

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on VKTX. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Maxim Group decreased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $27.94 on Tuesday. Viking Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two week high of $81.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.27 and its 200 day moving average is $39.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of -27.94 and a beta of 0.84.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.10). The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $240,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 296.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 11,362 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,576,000 after purchasing an additional 136,729 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $92,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 557.8% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,289 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 2,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.