Viking Therapeutics’ (VKTX) Buy Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

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

Several other analysts have also recently commented on VKTX. B. Riley assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. William Blair restated 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 report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $109.73.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $52.94 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.83. Viking Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $11.82 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The firm has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.92 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $715,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,250. The trade was a 52.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 296.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 11,362 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 51.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% during the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 38,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $741,000. 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.