Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt Invests $88.33 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 19,200 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $88,330,000. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt owned about 0.06% of Booking as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 521,609.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after buying an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,958,352,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Booking by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after buying an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.3%

BKNG traded down $15.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $5,634.02. 76,504 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 252,994. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $183.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.40. The business's 50 day moving average is $5,540.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5,042.92.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 143.67%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $20.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,692.00 to $5,411.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,454.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company 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.