Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 3.2%

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX – Get Rating) was up 3.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $11.42 and last traded at $11.29. Approximately 1,096,467 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 1,773,753 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Maxim Group raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $10.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Raymond James raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.50.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $927.70 million, a P/E ratio of -13.00 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.34.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.03). Equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $826,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 72.8% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 135,144 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 56,924 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 580,763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,459,000 after purchasing an additional 181,522 shares during the period. Finally, EAM Global Investors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,986,000. 34.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Viking Therapeutics

(Get Rating)

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the development of therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company was founded by Brian Lian and Michael A. Dinerman on September 24, 2012 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA.