Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Target Raised at Canaccord Genuity Group

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) had its price target raised by research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from $106.00 to $118.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 332.55% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on VKTX. Oppenheimer set a $120.00 price target on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.36.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $27.28 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 7.27 and a quick ratio of 7.27. The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 0.66. Viking Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $23.82 and a 12 month high of $43.15.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.06) by ($0.49). During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.81) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -5.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $241,458,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $22,393,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $20,699,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $15,910,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $14,971,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 2012, the company develops therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders, with a focus on conditions involving obesity, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and other liver and lipid disorders.

Viking’s lead program is VK2735, an investigational dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist being developed in injectable and oral formulations for obesity and related metabolic conditions.