Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK Holdings Lifted by UBS Group AG

Key Points

• UBS increased its stake in Viking by 69.7% in Q4, buying an additional 1,046,270 shares to hold 2,547,943 shares worth $181.95 million (about 0.57% of the company).
• Analysts maintain a bullish tilt with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.14, as 11 analysts rate the stock Buy (with recent target upgrades from UBS to $83 and Morgan Stanley to $79).
• EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares on April 14 at an average price of $80.23 for about $3.72 million, reducing his position by roughly 9.94% to 420,022 shares.

UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK - Free Report) by 69.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,547,943 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,046,270 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned 0.57% of Viking worth $181,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VIK. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking during the third quarter valued at $26,000. CI Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking by 53.1% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 551 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 545 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Viking during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Viking by 342.0% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 663 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on Viking from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Viking from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Viking from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Viking from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Viking from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total transaction of $3,720,184.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 420,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,698,365.06. This represents a 9.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Viking Price Performance

NYSE VIK opened at $78.46 on Thursday. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $38.50 and a fifty-two week high of $87.00. The stock's 50-day moving average is $75.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.76, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $34.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.90.

Viking (NYSE:VIK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter. Viking had a return on equity of 240.75% and a net margin of 17.65%. On average, analysts anticipate that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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