Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX traded up $2.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $67.17. 2,183,975 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,609,071. The company has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -73.18 and a beta of 1.05. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $8.28 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $66.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total transaction of $838,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,264,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,243,923.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total transaction of $838,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,264,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,243,923.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 329,079 shares of company stock worth $8,769,653. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

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.