Howe & Rusling Inc. Buys Shares of 36,769 Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK

Howe & Rusling Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 36,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking in the fourth quarter valued at $1,114,000. Hiddenite Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Viking in the fourth quarter valued at $3,213,000. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Viking in the fourth quarter valued at $1,151,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 956,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,278,000 after buying an additional 269,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking during the 4th quarter worth $1,071,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.84% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Viking

Here are the key news stories impacting Viking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Viking was included in recent shipping-stock watchlists, which can draw investor attention to the name and support trading interest. Shipping Stocks To Watch Today – June 30th
• Neutral Sentiment: Several high-traffic stories about “Viking” in Norway’s World Cup celebrations are unrelated to Viking Holdings and are unlikely to materially affect the stock. ‘Bigger than football’: Norway fans’ Viking row makes waves at World Cup
• Neutral Sentiment: Another shipping-stock roundup also flagged Viking, but it does not appear to include new company-specific catalysts. Shipping Stocks To Keep An Eye On – June 29th
• Neutral Sentiment: The remaining “Viking row” articles are social-media and sports explainer pieces, not business developments for Viking Holdings. What is the ‘Viking row’ and why is Norway doing it at the World Cup?

Viking Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:VIK opened at $100.30 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $44.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.48. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a 52-week low of $54.16 and a 52-week high of $105.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.52.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.24) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VIK. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Viking from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Truist Financial raised shares of Viking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $75.00 to $102.00 in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Viking from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total value 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. The trade was a 9.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $577,116.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 110,930 shares in the company, valued at $10,460,699. The trade was a 5.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 92,566 shares of company stock worth $7,657,130 over the last ninety days.

Viking 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.