Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) is scheduled to announce its earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, April 24th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of ($0.27) per share for the quarter.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.25). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.26) EPS. On average, analysts expect Viking Therapeutics to post $-1 EPS for the current fiscal year and $-1 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $65.53. 1,291,315 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,815,161. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.68. Viking Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $8.28 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The stock has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.76 and a beta of 1.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VKTX. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $691,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $691,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 359,079 shares of company stock worth $9,461,153. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. State Street Corp lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 2,039.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,280,944 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $87,928,000 after purchasing an additional 5,034,102 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 237.9% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,894,923 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $111,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,854,645 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 21,586.9% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,961,561 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,007,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947,905 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $28,396,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,638,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

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.