AMF Tjanstepension AB Acquires 1,316 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• AMF Tjanstepension AB significantly increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. by 308.2% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,316 shares to reach a total of 1,743 shares valued at $8,030,000.
• Booking Holdings reported a net margin of 19.23% with earnings per share of $55.40 for the quarter, surpassing estimates and marking a 16% revenue increase year-over-year.
• Recent analyst ratings are optimistic, with several firms upgrading Booking to "strong-buy" and raising target prices, leading to an average price target of $5,781.04.

AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 308.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,743 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB's holdings in Booking were worth $8,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Mechanics Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $50.00 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $5,411.54. 79,170 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 250,852. The company's 50 day moving average is $5,565.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5,107.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.39 billion, a PE ratio of 37.70, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,557.64 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $41.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given 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, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $6,700.00 target price (up from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,781.04.

Booking 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.