SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 238,409 Shares of Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) by 111.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 451,490 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 238,409 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Viking were worth $33,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased 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 worth $1,043,945,000 after buying an additional 570,672 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,611,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,960,000 after acquiring an additional 136,918 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Viking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $372,297,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $316,082,000 after acquiring an additional 3,364,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dream Peak Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Viking during the 4th quarter valued at $223,744,000. 98.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on VIK shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Viking in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Viking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Truist Financial raised Viking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $102.00 in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up from $81.00) on shares of Viking in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking in a report on Friday, May 15th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.38.

Insider Activity

In other Viking news, EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total value of $3,720,184.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 420,022 shares in the company, valued at $33,698,365.06. This represents a 9.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard Marnell sold 11,287 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 117,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,868,092.50. This trade represents a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,566 shares of company stock worth $7,657,130.

Viking Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE VIK opened at $101.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $45.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $86.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.27, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.78. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a 52-week low of $50.30 and a 52-week high of $101.34.

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

Key Stories Impacting Viking

Here are the key news stories impacting Viking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Viking announced a new senior vice president of sales, a leadership move that could support growth and strengthen commercial execution. Viking announces new senior vice president of sales
• Neutral Sentiment: Several viral “Viking row” stories tied to Norway’s World Cup celebrations are circulating, but these articles are about sports/fan culture rather than Viking Holdings’ cruise business, so they are unlikely to materially affect the stock. Norway fans take over Times Square with Viking row
• Neutral Sentiment: A market article highlighting shipping stocks may offer a broad sector read-through, but it does not specifically change Viking Holdings’ outlook on its own. Best Shipping Stocks To Consider – June 21st

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.