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

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

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on VKTX. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $32.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.99. Viking Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $20.47 and a 12 month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued 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 business posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 443,701 shares of company stock valued at $23,898,520 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,619,430 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,052,176,000 after acquiring an additional 79,149 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% in the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,350,000 after purchasing an additional 452,344 shares during the period. Braidwell LP grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% in the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,156,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $73,248,000 after purchasing an additional 50,072 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after buying an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,902,000 after buying an additional 143,675 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.