Viking Therapeutics’ (VKTX) Buy Rating Reiterated at B. Riley

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at B. Riley in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $96.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $109.00. B. Riley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 195.56% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.77.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.48. 2,708,023 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,926,173. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.06 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $25.34 and a one year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, CNB Bank bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.