Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives $111.78 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $111.78.

VKTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $55,098,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,341,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.3 %

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $54.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.20 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $8.28 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.26.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

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.