Morgan Stanley Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Morgan Stanley reissued their overweight rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $105.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reiterated a buy rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Maxim Group restated a buy rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a buy rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $66.73 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $8.28 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of -71.75 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.19) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% in the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.