HC Wainwright Increases Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Price Target to $102.00

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) had its price objective boosted by HC Wainwright from $90.00 to $102.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 4.5 %

VKTX stock opened at $68.85 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a PE ratio of -74.03 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $9.34 and a 12 month high of $99.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.85.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,535. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total transaction of $7,426,846.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,954,196.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 525,473 shares of company stock valued at $37,088,158 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Prospera Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $298,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 144.1% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,958 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,251 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $844,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $206,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.