Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,578 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Booking were worth $30,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 11,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,514,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 1.5% during the third quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 409 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,208,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 1.0% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,883,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Troy Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Booking by 2.0% in the third quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 7,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,500,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 4.8% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,184 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,609,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Argus upped their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Seaport Research Partners lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup cut Booking from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,920.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,171.56.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $4,140.60 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $4,071.60 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $5,098.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,216.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.45 billion, a PE ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,105.36, for a total value of $204,214.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,288,502.40. This trade represents a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total value of $4,937,817.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,631,984.10. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 2,096 shares of company stock valued at $11,120,014 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.