HC Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Key Points

• HC Wainwright has reiterated a "buy" rating for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) with a target price of $102.00, indicating a potential upside of 325.60% from the stock's previous close.
• The stock has recently seen volatility, trading down $18.12 to $23.97, while having a one-year low of $18.92 and a high of $81.73.
• Viking Therapeutics has attracted attention from several analysts; two rated it as a Strong Buy, while a majority maintain a Buy rating, leading to an average consensus target price of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $102.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock. HC Wainwright's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 325.60% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX stock traded down $18.1240 on Tuesday, hitting $23.9660. 43,724,288 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,397,504. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $18.92 and a one year high of $81.73. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $31.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.67 and a beta of 0.67.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction of $118,466.82. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 16,302 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 9,209.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 24,130 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $429,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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