Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Lifted to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) to a sell rating in a report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial reiterated a buy rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Maxim Group reissued a buy rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $62.32 on Tuesday. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $8.28 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.88. The firm has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a PE ratio of -67.01 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $25,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% during the first quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% in the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.