WINTON GROUP Ltd Purchases New Position in Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 71,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,535,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VIK. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Viking by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,619,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,043,945,000 after purchasing an additional 570,672 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Viking by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,611,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,960,000 after purchasing an additional 136,918 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Viking by 654.3% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,157,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,556,000 after purchasing an additional 5,341,580 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Viking during the fourth quarter valued at $372,297,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Viking by 316.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,426,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,082,000 after purchasing an additional 3,364,265 shares during the last quarter. 98.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Viking

Here are the key news stories impacting Viking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Viking FK’s Champions League debut and its coverage in UEFA and sports media may increase name recognition for “Viking,” but the soccer club is unrelated to Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: VIK). Viking’s unlikely journey to the Champions League
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles covering the VfB Stuttgart–Viking FK match, confirmed lineups, Stuttgart’s victory and Ermedin Demirović’s hat trick concern football news and have no direct implications for Viking Holdings’ cruise operations, earnings or outlook. Stuttgart match report
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports about Viking silver hoards in Denmark and Finland, as well as historical coverage of Viking berserkers, are unrelated to the company and should not affect its valuation. Danish Viking silver discovery
• Neutral Sentiment: A “shipping stocks worth watching” article is the only potentially market-related item, but the headline alone does not identify a new development involving Viking Holdings or provide a clear explanation for the stock’s move. Best Shipping Stocks Worth Watching
• Negative Sentiment: There is no verified negative fundamental news about Viking Holdings in the supplied articles. The decrease therefore appears more likely related to trading dynamics, broader market or travel-sector sentiment, or profit-taking rather than any of these headlines.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up from $104.00) on shares of Viking in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Viking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Viking from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Viking in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.33.

Viking Price Performance

Viking stock opened at $85.21 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $97.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a 12-month low of $56.37 and a 12-month high of $110.09.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Viking had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 117.98%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking

In other news, EVP Richard Marnell sold 11,287 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.85, for a total value of $1,047,997.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 117,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,868,092.50. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 17,566 shares of company stock worth $1,640,166 over the last quarter.

Viking Company Profile

Viking Holdings Ltd. is a global travel company that operates the Viking brand of destination-focused cruises. Its offerings include river cruises, ocean cruises and expedition voyages, with an emphasis on cultural enrichment, regional cuisine and immersive shore excursions rather than onboard casinos or other traditional cruise-ship amenities.

Viking’s river cruise business serves major waterways in Europe, including the Rhine, Main, Danube, Rhône, Saône, Seine and Douro, as well as selected rivers in other regions such as Asia, Egypt and the Mississippi in the United States.