Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Price Target Lowered to $70.00 at Maxim Group

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Maxim Group from $120.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Maxim Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 114.99% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.92.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ VKTX traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.56. 4,818,065 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,020,497. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.01 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.01. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $25.34 and a one year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, CNB Bank bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $49,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.