Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $99.67.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Viking Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 21,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total value of $710,132.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 212,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,102,467.88. This represents a 9.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $609,722.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 422,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,149,777.20. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 187,951 shares of company stock worth $6,268,442 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 59,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 2,396 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,532,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,823,000. RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 142,790 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,570,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,533 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 6.4%

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $30.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of -6.55 and a beta of 0.66. Viking Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $25.77 and a 12 month high of $43.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.49.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.21) by $0.11. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.58) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company’s research programs are aimed at conditions including obesity, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and other diseases involving the liver and metabolism.

Viking’s leading program is VK2735, an investigational dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors.