Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Research Coverage Started at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $104.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on VKTX. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $28.87 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.87 and a beta of 0.84. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $18.92 and a 1-year high of $81.86.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan acquired 1,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,946. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.