HC Wainwright Issues Optimistic Forecast for VKTX Earnings

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) – Analysts at HC Wainwright upped their FY2024 earnings estimates for Viking Therapeutics in a research report issued on Thursday, October 24th. HC Wainwright analyst J. Pantginis now anticipates that the biotechnology company will post earnings of ($0.94) per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of ($0.95). HC Wainwright currently has a “Buy” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Viking Therapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($1.00) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Viking Therapeutics’ Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.24) EPS.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on VKTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, July 25th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $78.03 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -83.90 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $99.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.61.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after buying an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after acquiring an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $54,295,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,455. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 527,671 shares of company stock worth $34,700,603. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.