Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 6.6% – Should You Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s share price rose 6.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $29.85 and last traded at $29.72. Approximately 5,321,716 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 10% from the average daily volume of 4,837,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. 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. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.42.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 6.6%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.30 and its 200-day moving average is $27.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.42 and a beta of 0.64.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). Viking Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 16,302 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Management Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $241,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 9,209.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 24,130 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,367,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 77.7% in the second quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 63,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after buying an additional 27,795 shares in the last quarter. 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.