Piper Sandler Begins Coverage on Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Research analysts at Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 39.78% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on VKTX. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $52.94 on Monday. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $11.82 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.92 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, 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 transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % 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 ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the third 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 lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,350,000 after buying an additional 452,344 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,677,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $11,251,000. 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.