Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK Shares Acquired by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) by 555.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,774 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 115,896 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Viking were worth $10,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in Viking by 19,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Viking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking by 316.0% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Viking by 651.8% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VIK. Susquehanna upped their price target on Viking from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Viking from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Viking in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Viking in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Viking from $87.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking news, EVP Richard Marnell sold 11,287 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.85, for a total transaction of $1,047,997.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 117,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,868,092.50. This trade represents a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 17,566 shares of company stock worth $1,640,166 over the last ninety days.

Viking Stock Down 1.7%

VIK stock opened at $102.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.27, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.06. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a 12 month low of $55.55 and a 12 month high of $105.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a PE ratio of 38.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.48.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). Viking had a return on equity of 149.40% and a net margin of 18.00%.The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.24) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.