Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $33.50, but opened at $31.02. Viking Therapeutics shares last traded at $31.68, with a volume of 1,470,441 shares traded.

The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VKTX. Maxim Group lowered their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $233,000. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 50.1% in the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 164,263 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,610,000 after acquiring an additional 54,814 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 6,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 26,835 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 4,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 79.4% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.05 and a 200 day moving average of $53.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of -35.01 and a beta of 0.90.

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.