Bank of Nova Scotia Has $57.27 Million Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 99.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,893 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,479,605 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Booking were worth $57,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,210,917,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 578,824.0% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,675,765,000 after acquiring an additional 289,412 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC boosted its position in Booking by 658,925.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 105,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $610,441,000 after acquiring an additional 105,428 shares during the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $536,675,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 79.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $695,259,000 after purchasing an additional 68,243 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Down 0.4%

BKNG opened at $5,177.39 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5,071.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,382.00. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $4,096.23 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $166.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $83.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $6,325.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BNP Paribas set a $6,100.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,146.23.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,514 shares in the company, valued at $7,570,000. The trade was a 11.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total value of $75,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 717 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,510. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,388 shares of company stock valued at $17,629,822. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.