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

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of VKTX stock traded up $2.10 on Thursday, reaching $67.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,183,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,609,071. The business’s 50-day moving average is $66.95 and its 200 day moving average is $34.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a PE ratio of -73.18 and a beta of 1.05. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $99.41.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,079 shares of company stock worth $8,769,653 in the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James upped their price target 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. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics 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.