Viking Therapeutics’ (VKTX) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $102.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $40.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of -43.66 and a beta of 0.95. Viking Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $19.15 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $50.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.75.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total transaction of $10,088,541.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,442,929.26. This trade represents a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 443,701 shares of company stock valued at $23,898,520 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 140.3% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 41,672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,209,000 after buying an additional 24,332 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 17.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 27,553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 4,186 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 123.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ClariVest Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 241.6% during the second quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 32,012 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,697,000 after acquiring an additional 22,642 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.