Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06, Briefing.com reports. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 28.3 %

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $64.68 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $8.28 and a 12 month high of $99.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.89. The stock has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.55 and a beta of 1.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.78.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,413,639.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.70% 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.