Analysts Set Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) PT at $106.75

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.75.

Several research firms have weighed in on VKTX. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 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 transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 301,014 shares of company stock worth $12,920,189. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 121,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,872,000 after buying an additional 18,738 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 462,964 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $18,630,000 after buying an additional 41,400 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 107.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 42,124 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,697,000 after buying an additional 21,825 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,481,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 183,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $33.50 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $23.11 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.02 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.17.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.