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 research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $90.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 38.31% from the company’s previous close.

VKTX has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $65.07 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $8.28 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.73 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.33.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.25). During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total value of $7,230,152.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total value of $7,230,152.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 329,079 shares of company stock valued at $8,769,653. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 125.6% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $93,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.