Scotiabank Begins Coverage on Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a sector outperform rating and a $102.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VKTX. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $30.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,279,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,270,754. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $28.64 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.48 and a beta of 0.90. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $37.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.85.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business'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 $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $190,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third 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. CWM LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,036 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 7.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,955 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 8.8% in the third quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,190 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.