HC Wainwright Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at HC Wainwright from $90.00 to $102.00 in a report issued on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price indicates a potential upside of 36.40% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on VKTX. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $74.78 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $64.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.81. The stock has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a PE ratio of -80.41 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $9.34 and a 1-year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,455. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 525,473 shares of company stock worth $37,088,158. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $63,565,000 after acquiring an additional 994,801 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $54,295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.