Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Given Buy Rating at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $90.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

VKTX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. Maxim Group restated a buy rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Raymond James reiterated a strong-buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a buy rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $112.38.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.2 %

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $52.12 on Monday. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $8.28 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.04 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.82.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS. Research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $61,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently 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.