HC Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $102.00 price objective on the biotechnology company's stock. HC Wainwright's price target points to a potential upside of 297.66% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on VKTX. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Maxim Group dropped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.18.

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Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of VKTX traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $25.65. 1,972,955 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,896,595. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $24.41 and a 52-week high of $82.00. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.65 and a beta of 0.90. The company's 50-day moving average price is $30.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.65.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,980 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,929 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.