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 released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $102.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

VKTX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 42.1%

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $24.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of -15.92 and a beta of 0.67. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.77.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.20) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total value of $118,424.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction of $118,466.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 58.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.