Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its Viking Holdings stake by 27.6% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 54,508 shares valued at approximately $4.0 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 98.84% of the company.
• Viking insiders sold 17,566 shares worth about $1.64 million over the past 90 days, including an executive vice president’s sale of 6,120 shares at an average price of $94.30.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Viking holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $103.39. The company reported first-quarter revenue of $1.05 billion, up 17.5% year over year, while shares opened at $104.78 near their 52-week high.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK - Free Report) by 27.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,508 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,796 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Viking were worth $4,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Viking by 210.1% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,584 shares of the company's stock worth $1,087,000 after buying an additional 9,203 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 50,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,937,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking by 163.2% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 26,439 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 16,394 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in shares of Viking in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $295,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking in the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.84% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking

In other news, EVP Richard Marnell sold 6,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.30, for a total transaction of $577,116.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 110,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,460,699. This represents a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 17,566 shares of company stock worth $1,640,166 over the last 90 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VIK has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking in a report on Friday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Viking from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Viking from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Weiss Ratings cut Viking from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Viking from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.39.

Viking Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of VIK stock opened at $104.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.27, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.85. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $55.55 and a fifty-two week high of $105.76.

Viking (NYSE:VIK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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