Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $106.75.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $47.87 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $17.23 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a PE ratio of -51.47 and a beta of 0.88.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total transaction of $10,088,541.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This represents a 46.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $239,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 112.7% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,750 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 8,344 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $331,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 308,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,351,000 after purchasing an additional 63,206 shares during the period. 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.