Merit Financial Group LLC Has $1.72 Million Stock Position in Viking Holdings Ltd. $VIK

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) by 42.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,635 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,256 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Viking were worth $1,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in Viking in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in Viking in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 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. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. 98.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Price Performance

NYSE VIK opened at $72.22 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.35. Viking Holdings Ltd. has a twelve month low of $31.79 and a twelve month high of $74.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.01. Viking had a return on equity of 716.92% and a net margin of 15.53%.The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on VIK. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Viking from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Viking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Mizuho set a $59.00 price objective on Viking in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Viking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Viking from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.00.

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.