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

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $90.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 71.20% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on VKTX. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.38.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Monday, hitting $52.57. 1,297,568 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,882,411. The stock has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.49 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $64.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.58. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $8.28 and a 1 year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,059,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $27,413,639.28. 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 and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,820 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $78,586,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,202,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,379,000 after acquiring an additional 822,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $55,098,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.