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

HC Wainwright reiterated their buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $102.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.42.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $25.81 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.87 and a beta of 0.73. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $18.92 and a 1-year high of $81.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.74 and a 200 day moving average of $27.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.20) EPS. Viking Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 16,302 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Management Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $241,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9,209.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 24,130 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $1,367,000. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 118.5% during the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 52,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after buying an additional 28,200 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.