Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Given "Buy" Rating at HC Wainwright

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by equities research analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $90.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock. HC Wainwright's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 30.70% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on VKTX. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Maxim Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX stock traded up $3.79 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $68.86. The company had a trading volume of 3,519,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,626,465. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $8.28 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The company has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -73.18 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.33.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total value of $7,230,152.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 329,079 shares of company stock worth $8,769,653. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $78,586,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 59.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,202,228 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $24,379,000 after purchasing an additional 822,156 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,341,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $20,841,000 after purchasing an additional 525,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 194.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 765,320 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $8,472,000 after purchasing an additional 505,578 shares during the period. 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.