Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Announces Earnings Results

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 5.8 %

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $3.79 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $68.86. 3,519,010 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,626,465. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $8.28 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.85 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.61 and a 200-day moving average of $34.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VKTX. BTIG Research upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Raymond James upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Maxim Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.25.

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.