Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $102.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. B. Riley initiated 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. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $32.65 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $20.47 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $46.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.99.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,442,929.26. The trade was a 46.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 443,701 shares of company stock worth $23,898,520 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,450,000. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 103.5% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,035 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 204.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 9,230 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 48.1% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,105 shares during the period. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 68.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 2,459 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.