Bellwether Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK

Bellwether Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) by 70.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,506 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,039 shares during the quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC’s holdings in Viking were worth $1,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. ABN Amro Investment Solutions bought a new position in Viking during the first quarter valued at about $2,089,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Viking by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Viking by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 70,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,204,000 after acquiring an additional 20,749 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Viking by 1.6% during the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 289,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,261,000 after acquiring an additional 4,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking by 50.1% during the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 13,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 4,357 shares in the last quarter. 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: VIK was highlighted in a Zacks article comparing it with Expedia as a value stock, which can draw investor attention to Viking as a reasonably priced name in leisure and recreation services. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Another Zacks piece named Viking Holdings among five consumer discretionary picks after U.S. consumer sentiment reached a five-month high, reinforcing the idea that demand for travel and leisure spending may stay healthy. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles mentioning “Viking” were about NASA’s Viking Mars missions and do not appear related to Viking Holdings, so they are unlikely to affect the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Other items referencing shipping stocks were broad market lists and did not provide company-specific catalysts for VIK.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Richard Marnell sold 11,287 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $10,868,092.50. This trade represents a 8.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,566 shares of company stock worth $1,640,166.

Viking Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE VIK opened at $99.37 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $94.21 and its 200 day moving average is $81.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.29 billion, a PE ratio of 36.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.27. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a twelve month low of $55.55 and a twelve month high of $105.76.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 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 period last year, the business earned ($0.24) EPS. Viking’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VIK. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $95.00 price target on Viking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Viking in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Viking in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Viking from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Viking from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.39.

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.