Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) – Investment Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes

Posted by Scott Moore on Feb 13th, 2025

A number of research firms have changed their ratings and price targets for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX):

2/13/2025 – Viking Therapeutics is now covered by analysts at Scotiabank. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock.
2/7/2025 – Viking Therapeutics is now covered by analysts at Citigroup Inc.. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock.
2/7/2025 – Viking Therapeutics had its price target lowered by analysts at Maxim Group from $120.00 to $70.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
2/7/2025 – Viking Therapeutics had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at B. Riley. They now have a $96.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $109.00.
2/6/2025 – Viking Therapeutics had its price target raised by analysts at Raymond James from $122.00 to $125.00. They now have a “strong-buy” rating on the stock.
2/6/2025 – Viking Therapeutics had its price target lowered by analysts at Piper Sandler from $74.00 to $71.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
2/6/2025 – Viking Therapeutics had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at HC Wainwright. They now have a $102.00 price target on the stock.
1/17/2025 – Viking Therapeutics had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at HC Wainwright. They now have a $102.00 price target on the stock.
1/8/2025 – Viking Therapeutics had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at HC Wainwright. They now have a $102.00 price target on the stock.
12/18/2024 – Viking Therapeutics had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at HC Wainwright. They now have a $102.00 price target on the stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $29.44. The stock had a trading volume of 2,921,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,004,994. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.64 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of -29.44 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $3,376,000. Cahill Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Cahill Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 1,515 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 43,019 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,731,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 46,730 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,880,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $24,888,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.