Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Upgraded to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

VKTX has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.14.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 4.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $34.27 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $32.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.17 and a beta of 0.64. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $18.92 and a 52 week high of $56.25.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.67) by ($0.14). The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.22) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles A. Rowland, Jr. sold 60,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.57, for a total value of $2,134,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,067,100. This trade represents a 66.67% 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 6,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $216,475.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,075,720. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 111,359 shares of company stock valued at $3,932,155. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 58.4% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares in 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.