HC Wainwright Issues Positive Forecast for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at HC Wainwright from $90.00 to $102.00 in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. HC Wainwright's price objective indicates a potential upside of 61.55% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on VKTX. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell 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, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX stock traded down $9.74 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $63.14. 29,466,438 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,484,661. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $64.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.78. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $9.34 and a one year high of $99.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.76 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $546,535. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This represents 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 worth $37,088,158 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $54,295,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.