Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Issues Earnings Results

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06, Briefing.com reports. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 28.3 %

NASDAQ:VKTX traded up $14.27 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $64.68. 20,605,708 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,819,043. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $55.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.89. The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.55 and a beta of 1.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.78.

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.