Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Price Target Raised to $118.00

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) had its price target boosted by Canaccord Genuity Group from $106.00 to $118.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Barclays upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. UBS Group began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.36.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $27.28 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 7.27 and a current ratio of 7.27. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $43.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 0.66.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.06) by ($0.49). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.81) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -5.26 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $241,458,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,393,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 542,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,653,000 after buying an additional 82,941 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $20,699,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 525,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,099,000 after acquiring an additional 11,753 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 2012, the company develops therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders, with a focus on conditions involving obesity, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and other liver and lipid disorders.

Viking’s lead program is VK2735, an investigational dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist being developed in injectable and oral formulations for obesity and related metabolic conditions.