Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Increases Position in Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) by 406.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,844,499 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,480,604 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Viking were worth $131,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VIK. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Viking by 92.0% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking in the second quarter worth about $303,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking in the second quarter worth about $922,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Viking by 34,748.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,812,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,568,000 after buying an additional 1,806,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking by 275.0% during the second quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 30,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after buying an additional 22,188 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VIK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Viking from $87.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Viking in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Viking in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Viking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $79.00 to $109.00 in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Viking in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total transaction of $3,720,184.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 420,022 shares in the company, valued at $33,698,365.06. This represents a 9.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Viking Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:VIK opened at $88.94 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $82.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.37. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a 52 week low of $46.06 and a 52 week high of $93.70. 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 stock has a market cap of $39.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.06, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.59.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Viking had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 149.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Viking

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.