HC Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

HC Wainwright reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $102.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

VKTX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.5 %

VKTX stock opened at $40.60 on Wednesday. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $19.15 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of -43.66 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $50.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.75.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the business’s 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. This represents a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 443,701 shares of company stock valued at $23,898,520. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,576,000 after buying an additional 136,729 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 296.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 11,362 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $240,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 38,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is 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.