Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

VKTX has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $89.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.62.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $35.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.72 and a beta of 0.69. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $43.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.09.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.21) by $0.11. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.58) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -4.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 21,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $710,132.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 212,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,102,467.88. This represents a 9.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total value of $4,948,586.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,572,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,713,734.12. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 187,951 shares of company stock valued at $6,268,442 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,580 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $466,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 9,365 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,870 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 29.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,109 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 3,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the company’s pipeline leverages small-molecule approaches to target hormone signaling pathways implicated in conditions such as non?alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and muscle wasting disorders.

The company’s lead programs include VK2809, a thyroid hormone receptor?beta agonist designed to reduce liver fat and improve lipid profiles in patients with NASH and dyslipidemia, and VK5211, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) aimed at enhancing muscle mass and function in individuals with muscle wasting conditions.