Piper Sandler Lowers Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Price Target to $71.00

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $74.00 to $71.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 111.94% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, January 17th. B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $33.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.02 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $23.11 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.92 and a 200-day moving average of $54.17.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 301,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,189. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

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.