Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) is scheduled to announce its earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, October 23rd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of ($0.24) per share for the quarter.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.19) 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 Price Performance

Shares of VKTX traded down $0.50 on Thursday, hitting $65.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 164,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,324,949. The company has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a PE ratio of -70.74 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $8.28 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VKTX. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813. Corporate insiders own 4.70% 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.