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

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $90.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective points to a potential upside of 38.31% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 0.2 %

VKTX opened at $65.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of -70.73 and a beta of 1.05. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $8.28 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.33.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25). During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,707,779.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 329,079 shares of company stock worth $8,769,653. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $61,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew 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 worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $355,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 78.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 245,240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,110,000 after purchasing an additional 107,657 shares during the period. 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.