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 report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $90.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on VKTX. Raymond James restated a strong-buy rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Maxim Group restated a buy rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They set a buy rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $112.38.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $52.12 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of -56.04 and a beta of 1.04. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.82.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. Research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.08 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at $13,059,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,413,639.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $61,000. 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.