Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Earns "Buy" Rating from HC Wainwright

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by research analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $102.00 price objective on the biotechnology company's stock. HC Wainwright's price target would indicate a potential upside of 213.27% from the company's previous close.

VKTX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.92.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX stock traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $32.56. The company had a trading volume of 4,818,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,270,754. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.56 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $25.34 and a 1 year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company'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 in the company, valued at $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $233,000. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 50.1% in the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 164,263 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,610,000 after purchasing an additional 54,814 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 6,940 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 26,835 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 4,012 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 79.4% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by 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.