Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Announces Earnings Results

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by ($0.04), Zacks reports.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ VKTX traded up $1.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.50. 4,490,749 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,700,376. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of -36.02 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $23.11 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. B. Riley assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 301,014 shares of company stock worth $12,920,189. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.