Leerink Partnrs Brokers Increase Earnings Estimates for VKTX

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) – Analysts at Leerink Partnrs upped their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Viking Therapeutics in a note issued to investors on Thursday, October 24th. Leerink Partnrs analyst T. Smith now forecasts that the biotechnology company will post earnings per share of ($0.92) for the year, up from their previous forecast of ($0.94). The consensus estimate for Viking Therapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($0.98) per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Viking Therapeutics’ Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.24) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($1.65) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($2.41) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($3.83) EPS and FY2028 earnings at ($1.31) EPS.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on VKTX. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of VKTX opened at $74.52 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $63.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.64. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $9.25 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of -80.13 and a beta of 1.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $100,157,000 after purchasing an additional 97,552 shares in the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $11,251,000. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 441,590 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,957,000 after acquiring an additional 133,144 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 721.9% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 180,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,396,000 after acquiring an additional 158,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at $11,442,929.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 525,473 shares of company stock worth $37,088,158 over the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.