Capital Research Global Investors Acquires 113,502 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 194.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 171,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 113,502 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors owned 0.53% of Booking worth $920,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. raised its position in Booking by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the period. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA raised its position in Booking by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 110 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. 111 Capital raised its position in Booking by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. 111 Capital now owns 595 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,186,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its position in Booking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 2,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,868,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Booking by 620.0% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 36 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,076 shares of company stock worth $16,417,121 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $165.84 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $128.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $233.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $169.79 and its 200 day moving average is $184.97.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. Booking’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $216.28 to $187.92 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $260.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.14.

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.