Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $60.39, but opened at $65.75. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $66.00, with a volume of 1,311,700 shares traded.

The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were 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 $20,689,572.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 527,671 shares of company stock worth $34,700,603 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,820 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $294,380,000. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,350,000 after purchasing an additional 452,344 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 714,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,880,000 after buying an additional 42,650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 6.6 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.76. The firm has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -83.90 and a beta of 1.00.

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.