Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Citigroup

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

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Raymond James raised 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 note on Thursday. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.92.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.5 %

VKTX stock opened at $32.56 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $25.34 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.88.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 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 transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 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 transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,478,000 after acquiring an additional 31,011 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after purchasing an additional 17,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,316,000 after purchasing an additional 62,956 shares during the period. 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.