American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 114,745 Shares of Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Viking Holdings Ltd. by 15.1%, owning a total of 875,047 shares valued at approximately $34.8 million.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings for VIK, with a notable increase in price targets, including Bank of America's upgrade from $51.00 to $70.00 and Stifel Nicolaus raising its target from $50.00 to $75.00.
• Viking's recent earnings report showed revenue growth of 18.5%, although it missed the earnings per share (EPS) consensus estimate, reporting $0.99 EPS versus the expected $1.00.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK - Free Report) by 15.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 875,047 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 114,745 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.20% of Viking worth $34,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking by 34.4% during the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 200,537 shares of the company's stock worth $7,971,000 after acquiring an additional 51,340 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Viking by 19.6% in the first quarter. Crestwood Capital Management L.P. now owns 426,522 shares of the company's stock worth $16,954,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Viking by 57.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,114,166 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,038,000 after purchasing an additional 774,265 shares in the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Viking during the first quarter valued at $596,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Viking in the 1st quarter worth $261,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.84% of the company's stock.

Viking Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of NYSE VIK traded up $2.1150 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.3850. The company had a trading volume of 4,190,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,023,856. The stock has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.40. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a 52 week low of $30.75 and a 52 week high of $60.97. The business's 50-day moving average is $56.10 and its 200-day moving average is $48.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.33.

Viking (NYSE:VIK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 19th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.01). Viking had a net margin of 13.99% and a negative return on equity of 374.71%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Viking's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VIK shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Viking from $55.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Viking from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Viking from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Viking from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Viking from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.20.

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.