Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.14 EPS

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14), Zacks reports. Viking Therapeutics's revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.20) EPS.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 2.7%

VKTX stock traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $34.42. The stock had a trading volume of 5,164,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,119,134. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $28.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.86. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.50 and a beta of 0.62. Viking Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $18.92 and a 52-week high of $81.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 347,716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $8,396,000 after acquiring an additional 39,886 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 470,028 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $11,351,000 after buying an additional 6,696 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.