William Blair Has Negative Outlook of VKTX FY2024 Earnings

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) – Investment analysts at William Blair dropped their FY2024 EPS estimates for Viking Therapeutics in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, October 23rd. William Blair analyst A. Hsieh now expects that the biotechnology company will post earnings of ($0.96) per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of ($0.95). The consensus estimate for Viking Therapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($1.00) per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Viking Therapeutics’ Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.27) EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at ($0.28) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.28) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.30) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.29) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($1.15) EPS and FY2026 earnings at ($1.19) EPS.

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

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 6.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $78.03 on Monday. Viking Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $8.28 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The company has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a PE ratio of -83.90 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.61.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,340. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 527,671 shares of company stock valued at $34,700,603 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.