Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Trading Up 1.6% After Strong Earnings

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $69.17 and last traded at $66.14. Approximately 1,593,187 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 5,598,100 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.07.

The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.25) EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of several research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $701,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $701,250.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 329,079 shares of company stock worth $8,769,653 in the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Gainplan LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $246,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $61,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 80.0% during the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 125.6% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 5.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a PE ratio of -74.85 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $67.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.55.

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.