Viking Therapeutics’ (VKTX) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at William Blair

William Blair restated their outperform rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) in a research note released on Wednesday morning,RTT News reports.

VKTX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $51.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.76. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $11.21 and a 52 week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.