Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $99.67

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.67.

VKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.7%

VKTX stock opened at $31.81 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $25.04 and a twelve month high of $43.15. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.83 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.64 and a 200-day moving average of $33.54.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.21) by $0.11. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.58) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

More Viking Therapeutics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Viking Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Viking reported impressive clinical results for its obesity-treatment pipeline, reinforcing the potential commercial value of its therapies in the fast-growing anti-obesity market. The news also supports the view that VKTX could be an attractive growth stock alongside larger competitor Eli Lilly. Eli Lilly Stock Barely Moved Following Viking Therapeutics’ Impressive Clinical Results
• Positive Sentiment: An analysis highlighted weight-loss maintenance as a potential additional growth opportunity for Viking, which could broaden the long-term market opportunity beyond initial weight reduction. Viking Therapeutics Adds Weight Loss Maintenance As Potential New Growth Driver
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street analysts generally rate Viking favorably, but coverage is concentrated among sell-side firms and may be overly optimistic. Investors are therefore being cautioned not to rely on the average brokerage recommendation alone. Wall Street Analysts Think Viking Therapeutics Is a Good Investment
• Negative Sentiment: Viking completed upsized offerings of 9.04 million common shares and $258.75 million of 2% convertible notes, generating approximately $575 million in gross proceeds after underwriters exercised their options in full. The added cash strengthens its balance sheet and funds development, but the stock issuance creates dilution and likely contributed to selling pressure. Viking Therapeutics Announces Closing of Concurrent Upsized Offerings
• Negative Sentiment: A law firm is investigating whether Viking officers and directors breached fiduciary duties, adding a governance-related overhang. The announcement is only an investigation and does not establish wrongdoing. Kuehn Law Investigation of Viking Therapeutics

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total value of $4,948,586.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,572,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,713,734.12. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 21,217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total value of $710,132.99. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 212,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,102,467.88. This trade represents a 9.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 187,951 shares of company stock worth $6,268,442. 5.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Cornerstone Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,334,000. Timothy G. Youngquist 2020 Irrevocable Trust lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 141.6% during the second quarter. Timothy G. Youngquist 2020 Irrevocable Trust now owns 271,849 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,605,000 after acquiring an additional 159,349 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $241,458,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 18.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 542,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,653,000 after acquiring an additional 82,941 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $1,783,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company’s research programs target conditions including obesity, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), dyslipidemia and other disorders involving hormone regulation and metabolism.

Viking’s lead program is VK2735, an investigational dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors being developed in injectable and oral formulations for obesity and related metabolic conditions.