What is Leerink Partnrs' Forecast for VKTX FY2025 Earnings?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) - Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs decreased their FY2025 earnings estimates for shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report issued on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partnrs analyst T. Smith now anticipates that the biotechnology company will post earnings of ($1.74) per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of ($1.65). The consensus estimate for Viking Therapeutics' current full-year earnings is ($1.41) per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Viking Therapeutics' FY2026 earnings at ($2.30) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($3.81) EPS and FY2028 earnings at ($1.11) EPS.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share.

VKTX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reissued 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, February 7th. Maxim Group lowered their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of VKTX traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $29.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,663,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,034,338. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.50 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.09. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $28.64 and a 1-year high of $99.41.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $672,629,000 after buying an additional 96,008 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $75,704,000 after acquiring an additional 17,046 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $54,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108,972 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $51,464,000. Finally, Braidwell LP lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,156,977 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $73,248,000 after purchasing an additional 50,072 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 over the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

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.