Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by HC Wainwright

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by HC Wainwright in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $90.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 44.12% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on VKTX. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Raymond James lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $62.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -67.15 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $8.28 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.22 and a 200 day moving average of $62.64.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% in the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.