Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives $93.60 Average Target Price from Analysts

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $93.60.

A number of brokerages recently commented on VKTX. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Lake Street Capital began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $89.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,580 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 9,365 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,870 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 29.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,109 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $36.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.79 and a beta of 0.66. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $22.96 and a 52-week high of $43.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.86.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.37) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.01) by ($0.36). During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.41) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the company’s pipeline leverages small-molecule approaches to target hormone signaling pathways implicated in conditions such as non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and muscle wasting disorders.

The company’s lead programs include VK2809, a thyroid hormone receptor‐beta agonist designed to reduce liver fat and improve lipid profiles in patients with NASH and dyslipidemia, and VK5211, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) aimed at enhancing muscle mass and function in individuals with muscle wasting conditions.