Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Earns "Buy" Rating from B. Riley

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by research analysts at B. Riley in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $96.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock, down from their prior price target of $109.00. B. Riley's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 218.20% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler lowered 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. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.92.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock traded down $2.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.17. The stock had a trading volume of 5,338,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,048,014. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $29.82 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.17 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $40.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.92.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, CNB Bank bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.