Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

VKTX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.56.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 7.1 %

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $3.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $50.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,744,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,877,941. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.00. The firm has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of -54.59 and a beta of 1.04. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $8.28 and a 52 week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,413,639.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 1,557.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 371,604 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,916,000 after purchasing an additional 349,186 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 100.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 137,583 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,560,000 after purchasing an additional 68,921 shares during the period. 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. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,727,000 after purchasing an additional 311,681 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,872,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.