Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Raymond James Analyst Says

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) had its target price upped by analysts at Raymond James from $122.00 to $125.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “strong-buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Raymond James’ target price suggests a potential upside of 283.91% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. B. Riley assumed 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. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.92.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $32.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.01 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $25.34 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.88.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company’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 $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $233,000. AGF Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 164,263 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,610,000 after purchasing an additional 54,814 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 6,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 26,835 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after buying an additional 4,012 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 79.4% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. 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.