Sculptor Capital LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK

Sculptor Capital LP trimmed its stake in Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,435,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 65,000 shares during the period. Viking makes up approximately 1.1% of Sculptor Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Sculptor Capital LP owned approximately 0.32% of Viking worth $105,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VIK. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $303,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $922,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Viking by 34,748.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,812,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,568,000 after buying an additional 1,806,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC boosted its stake in Viking by 275.0% in the second quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 30,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after buying an additional 22,188 shares in the last quarter. 98.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VIK. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Viking in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Viking from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Viking from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Viking from $101.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on Viking in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.39.

Viking Price Performance

Shares of Viking stock opened at $100.87 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.18 and a 200 day moving average of $82.43. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.55 and a 52 week high of $105.76. The company has a market cap of $44.96 billion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 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 (NYSE:VIK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.24) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Viking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Viking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Viking revealed the names of its next two ocean ships, reinforcing the company’s growth pipeline and ongoing fleet expansion strategy, which can support longer-term revenue visibility. Viking Reveals Names of Its Next Two Ocean Ships
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles covered a dispute involving a different “Viking ship” tied to the film The Odyssey; this appears unrelated to Viking Holdings’ cruise business and is unlikely to have a meaningful impact on VIK shares. ‘The Odyssey’ Hired Their Viking Ship. They Say It Came Back Damaged.
• Neutral Sentiment: Other history-focused “Viking” stories about ancient burials, treasure, and swords are not related to Viking Holdings’ operations and should not affect the stock. New evidence shows ‘Viking burials’ predate Vikings
• Neutral Sentiment: A cruise-industry note about guests receiving an overbooking offer suggests continued demand management in the sector, but it does not appear to be a major catalyst on its own. Viking Cruise Guests Stunned by Generous Overbooking Offer

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking news, EVP Richard Marnell sold 6,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.30, for a total value of $577,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 110,930 shares in the company, valued at $10,460,699. This trade represents a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 17,566 shares of company stock valued at $1,640,166 in the last ninety days.

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.