Brokerages Set Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Price Target at $112.25

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $112.25.

VKTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $76.97 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.69. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $8.28 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The stock has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of -82.76 and a beta of 1.12.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.25) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,707,779.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 642,260 shares of company stock valued at $35,054,299 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 63.6% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 560,180 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,201,000 after purchasing an additional 217,827 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1,557.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 371,604 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,916,000 after acquiring an additional 349,186 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 100.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 137,583 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,560,000 after acquiring an additional 68,921 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,284,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $58,498,000 after purchasing an additional 171,995 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 924.4% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 82,099 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 74,085 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.