What is Leerink Partnrs’ Estimate for VKTX FY2029 Earnings?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) – Equities researchers at Leerink Partnrs decreased their FY2029 earnings per share estimates for shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report released on Thursday, July 24th. Leerink Partnrs analyst T. Smith now expects that the biotechnology company will earn $5.16 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $5.20. The consensus estimate for Viking Therapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($1.56) per share.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). Viking Therapeutics’s revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share.

VKTX has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $34.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.50 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.67. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $18.92 and a 1-year high of $81.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at $66,386,789.20. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total value of $118,424.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405 in the last three months. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $672,629,000 after buying an additional 96,008 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $75,704,000 after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares during the period. Braidwell LP grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,542,000 after purchasing an additional 322,689 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,972 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.