Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $102.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

VKTX has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of VKTX opened at $42.25 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $58.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.43 and a beta of 0.88. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $17.23 and a 1-year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This trade represents a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,687 shares of company stock worth $11,115,671 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. 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.