Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Given “Buy” Rating at HC Wainwright

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

Several other research firms have also issued reports on VKTX. William Blair reissued an outperform rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a sell rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a buy rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 5.8 %

Shares of VKTX opened at $68.86 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $67.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.55. Viking Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $8.28 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total transaction of $838,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,264,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,243,923.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,264,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,243,923.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 329,079 shares of company stock worth $8,769,653 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 63.6% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 560,180 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,201,000 after purchasing an additional 217,827 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,557.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 371,604 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,916,000 after acquiring an additional 349,186 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 100.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 137,583 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,560,000 after acquiring an additional 68,921 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,284,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,498,000 after acquiring an additional 171,995 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 924.4% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 82,099 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 74,085 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.