Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $38.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.92.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.5 %

VKTX opened at $32.56 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $25.34 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.56 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.92.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the 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 $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,619,430 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,052,176,000 after purchasing an additional 79,149 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,156,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $73,248,000 after buying an additional 50,072 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after acquiring an additional 994,801 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,902,000 after acquiring an additional 143,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 728,652 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,321,000 after acquiring an additional 13,055 shares during the last quarter. 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.