Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks reports.

VKTX has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Viking Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.90.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 8.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX traded down $2.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.17. 7,570,039 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,789,389. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of -5.40 and a beta of 0.66. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $24.94 and a 52 week high of $43.15. The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.04.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.21) by $0.11. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.58) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -4.46 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,217 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total value of $609,722.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 422,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,149,777.20. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total value of $4,948,586.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,572,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,713,734.12. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 187,951 shares of company stock valued at $6,268,442. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,334,000. Timothy G. Youngquist 2020 Irrevocable Trust increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 141.6% in the 2nd quarter. Timothy G. Youngquist 2020 Irrevocable Trust now owns 271,849 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,605,000 after acquiring an additional 159,349 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $241,458,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 18.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 542,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,653,000 after acquiring an additional 82,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $1,783,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company’s research programs are aimed at conditions including obesity, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and other diseases involving the liver and metabolism.

Viking’s leading program is VK2735, an investigational dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors.