Truist Financial Reiterates Buy Rating for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Truist Financial in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $75.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock, down from their prior price target of $95.00. Truist Financial's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 194.44% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.75.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ VKTX traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $25.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 618,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,048,499. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.54 and a beta of 0.84. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $26.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.34. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $81.86.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.07). During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. S.A. Mason LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,980 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,929 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.4% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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