Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives Average Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $95.18.

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Maxim Group decreased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:VKTX traded down $0.48 on Friday, hitting $25.65. The stock had a trading volume of 1,972,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,896,595. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -25.65 and a beta of 0.90. The business's fifty day moving average is $30.29 and its 200 day moving average is $46.60. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $24.41 and a 52 week high of $82.00.

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Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 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 $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $51,464,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $54,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108,972 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $24,888,000. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3,373.4% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 448,732 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $18,057,000 after purchasing an additional 435,813 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.