Scott & Selber Inc. Acquires New Position in Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK

Scott & Selber Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 21,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,565,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VIK. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Viking by 4.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking by 1.6% during the 4th 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Viking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $372,297,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Viking by 316.8% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Dream Peak Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Viking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $223,744,000. Institutional investors own 98.84% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Richard Marnell sold 6,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.30, for a total value of $577,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 110,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,460,699. This represents a 5.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total transaction of $3,720,184.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 420,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,698,365.06. This trade represents a 9.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 92,566 shares of company stock valued at $7,657,130.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial raised Viking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Viking in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Viking in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Viking from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $95.00 target price on shares of Viking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.38.

Key Headlines Impacting Viking

Here are the key news stories impacting Viking this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles referenced “Viking” in unrelated contexts, including the Waterford Viking Marathon, Norwegian “Viking Row” World Cup coverage, and cultural pieces about Viking history; these are not operationally meaningful for Viking Holdings but may create some noise in search and headline sentiment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary highlighted shipping stocks to watch, which could provide a modest sector tailwind for Viking Holdings if investors are rotating into travel and transportation-related names. Shipping Stocks Worth Watching – June 17th
• Negative Sentiment: Viking Holdings Ltd. was downgraded to Hold by Wall Street Zen, which may pressure the stock slightly by signaling less near-term upside from current levels. Viking (NYSE:VIK) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Viking Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VIK opened at $97.35 on Monday. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $47.02 and a fifty-two week high of $99.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.27. The stock has a market cap of $43.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.59.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Viking had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 149.40%. Viking’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.24) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Viking Company Profile

Viking Holdings Ltd engages in the passenger shipping and other forms of passenger transport in North America, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through River and Ocean segments. The company also operates as a tour entrepreneur for passengers and related activities in tourism. As of December 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of 92 ships, including 81 river vessels comprising 58 Longships, 10 smaller classes based on the Longship design, 11 other river vessels, and 1 river vessel charter and the Viking Mississippi; 9 ocean ships; and 2 expedition ships.