Q4 2024 Earnings Forecast for Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Issued By Leerink Partnrs

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) – Leerink Partnrs boosted their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Viking Therapeutics in a report issued on Wednesday, April 24th. Leerink Partnrs analyst T. Smith now forecasts that the biotechnology company will post earnings of ($0.25) per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of ($0.26). The consensus estimate for Viking Therapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($1.05) per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Viking Therapeutics’ FY2025 earnings at ($1.64) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($2.37) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($3.46) EPS and FY2028 earnings at ($1.19) EPS.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on VKTX. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $74.31 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -79.90 and a beta of 1.05. 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 $69.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 924.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 82,099 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 74,085 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,639 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 4,136 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 137,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 18,811 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 27,647 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 8,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 270.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 8,063 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

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

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.