Viking Therapeutics’ (VKTX) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reiterated their buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $102.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

VKTX has been the subject of several other research reports. Maxim Group dropped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.18.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $25.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -25.65 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $24.41 and a 1-year high of $82.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.29 and a 200-day moving average of $46.65.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.