Raymond James Boosts Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Price Target to $125.00

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) had its price target upped by Raymond James from $122.00 to $125.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a strong-buy rating on the biotechnology company's stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on VKTX. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $109.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.92.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.5 %

VKTX stock traded up $1.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $32.56. The company had a trading volume of 4,818,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,270,754. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.90. Viking Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $25.34 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.56 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 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 $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $32,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

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.