Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) was upgraded by StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

VKTX opened at $65.07 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $99.41. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -70.73 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.33.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25). During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,079 shares of company stock valued at $8,769,653 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $61,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 80.0% in the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 125.6% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $355,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 78.2% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 245,240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,110,000 after buying an additional 107,657 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.