Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Price Target Cut to $71.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $74.00 to $71.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 118.06% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. B. Riley assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.92.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $32.56 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $25.34 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.01 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.05 and its 200 day moving average is $53.88.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.