Align Financial LLC Invests $345.64 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Align Financial LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings, acquiring 64,541 shares valued at about $345.6 million. The position makes BKNG its 18th-largest holding and about 1.6% of its portfolio.
• Other institutional investors also increased or initiated positions in Booking, and 92.42% of the stock is held by institutions and hedge funds. Meanwhile, company insiders have been selling shares in recent months.
• Booking reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.14 versus $1.08 expected and revenue of $5.53 billion. Analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $227.14.

Align Financial LLC bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 64,541 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $345,638,000. Booking comprises about 1.6% of Align Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Align Financial LLC owned 0.20% of Booking as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $46,067,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 16,869 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $90,339,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its position in Booking by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 72,123 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $386,242,000 after purchasing an additional 25,772 shares in the last quarter. Ampersand Capital Group L.P. grew its position in Booking by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Ampersand Capital Group L.P. now owns 4,105 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $21,984,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its position in Booking by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 350 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,875,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler set a $195.00 price objective on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Booking from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $260.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.14.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $171.63 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $132.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.77. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.