Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Invests $692,000 in Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Viking by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,048,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,471,244 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Viking by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,611,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,960,000 after purchasing an additional 136,918 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Viking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $372,297,000. Dream Peak Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Viking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $223,744,000. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in Viking by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,944,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,014,000 after purchasing an additional 745,509 shares in the last quarter. 98.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE VIK opened at $94.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.27, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.78. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a 52-week low of $47.02 and a 52-week high of $96.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $84.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.36. The stock has a market cap of $42.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.59.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.24) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VIK. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $81.00) on shares of Viking in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Viking from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Viking from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Viking in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.38.

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.