Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $102.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target indicates a potential upside of 145.78% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 0.4 %

VKTX traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $41.50. 621,155 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,745,584. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.87. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $19.15 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of -44.62 and a beta of 0.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 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 owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 443,701 shares of company stock worth $23,898,520. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 140.3% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 41,672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,209,000 after buying an additional 24,332 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 27,553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 123.8% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ClariVest Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 241.6% in the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 32,012 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,697,000 after buying an additional 22,642 shares in the last quarter. 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.