Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Rating Reiterated by HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $90.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on VKTX. Raymond James restated a strong-buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Maxim Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an overweight rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a buy rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $111.78.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 2.0 %

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $65.98 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -70.95 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.70. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $8.28 and a 1-year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,413,639.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $37,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.