Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Now Covered by B. Riley

B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $109.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Viking Therapeutics’ Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.24) EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at ($0.29) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.30) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.32) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.32) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($1.23) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($1.74) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($2.53) EPS and FY2028 earnings at ($1.83) EPS.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on VKTX. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $51.99 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.05. The company has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.90 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $11.55 and a one year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $715,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $660,250. The trade was a 52.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,565,000 after acquiring an additional 994,801 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,350,000 after acquiring an additional 452,344 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $18,443,000. Finally, Artal Group S.A. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $20,817,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.