Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Raised to Strong-Buy at Barclays

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on VKTX. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Viking Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price 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. Oppenheimer set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.44.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 4.4%

VKTX stock opened at $25.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.13. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $25.28 and a twelve month high of $43.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of -5.47 and a beta of 0.66.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.21) by $0.11. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.58) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,217 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 $609,722.99. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 422,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,149,777.20. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total value of $710,132.99. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 212,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,102,467.88. This trade represents a 9.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 187,951 shares of company stock worth $6,268,442 in the last ninety days. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $241,458,000. Artia Global Partners LP lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 392.1% in the 4th quarter. Artia Global Partners LP now owns 719,365 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,307,000 after buying an additional 573,186 shares during the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,393,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 worth $17,653,000 after buying an additional 82,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $20,699,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Viking to “strong buy,” adding to bullish analyst sentiment around the company’s obesity-drug pipeline. Analyst upgrades can support the shares by reinforcing expectations for future appreciation. Wall Street Bulls Look Optimistic About Viking Therapeutics
• Positive Sentiment: Viking initiated the SUNRISE Phase 3 program for oral VK2735, a dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist being developed for obesity. The program includes SUNRISE-1 in adults with obesity and SUNRISE-2 in adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes, moving the candidate closer to potential commercialization. Viking Announces Initiation of VK2735 Oral Phase 3 Program
• Positive Sentiment: VK2735 previously produced weight reductions of up to 12.2% after 13 weeks in Phase 2, supporting optimism about its competitive potential in the rapidly expanding obesity-treatment market. Viking’s Key Obesity Pill Enters Phase 3 Trial
• Neutral Sentiment: The Phase 3 launch is an important milestone but also increases development costs and clinical execution risk. Investors will be watching enrollment, safety, efficacy, and timelines before assigning greater value to VK2735.
• Negative Sentiment: Shares have recently declined and are trading well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, indicating continued skepticism or profit-taking despite the pipeline progress. The stock remains loss-making, with analysts expecting a full-year loss, which can amplify volatility for this clinical-stage biotechnology company. Viking Therapeutics Stock Dropped

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 are aimed at conditions including obesity, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and other diseases involving the liver and metabolism.

Viking’s leading program is VK2735, an investigational dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors.