Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Raised to “Sell” at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Maxim Group reissued a buy rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. HC Wainwright reissued a buy rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. BTIG Research increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, William Blair reissued an outperform rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 7.9 %

Shares of VKTX opened at $74.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -79.90 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.56. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $8.28 and a 52 week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total transaction of $838,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,264,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,243,923.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,079 shares of company stock worth $8,769,653 in the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $78,586,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,202,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,379,000 after buying an additional 822,156 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,341,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,841,000 after buying an additional 525,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 194.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 765,320 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,472,000 after buying an additional 505,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.