California Public Employees Retirement System Has $361.71 Million Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.19% of Booking worth $361,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas set a $6,100.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $6,100.00 target price for the company. Gordon Haskett dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,680.00 to $5,620.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $5,433.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,146.23.

Booking Trading Up 3.4%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,197.04 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average price of $5,077.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,382.53. The stock has a market cap of $167.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,007.69, for a total value of $2,003,076.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,922,265.19. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the firm’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 $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,800,000. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,452 shares of company stock valued at $17,987,397. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Company Profile

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.