Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives $106.75 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.75.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $47.03 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $59.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.41. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $17.23 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.57 and a beta of 0.88.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 over the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% in the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,350,000 after buying an additional 452,344 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,677,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,251,000. 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.