HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $90.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a buy rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a buy rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $46.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $86.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $101.89.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.6 %

VKTX stock opened at $82.00 on Tuesday. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $99.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of -89.13 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.70.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25). During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.26) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $691,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total value of $838,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,264,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,243,923.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $691,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 374,079 shares of company stock worth $9,729,653 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.0% during the second quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,346 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. 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.