AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 15.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,099 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,024 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up about 1.5% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.18% of Booking worth $272,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Booking by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 49 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 797 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,960,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BTIG Research raised Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Booking from $5,580.00 to $5,820.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,453.15.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on BKNG
Booking Stock Performance
Shares of BKNG traded up $18.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5,702.90. The company had a trading volume of 147,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 248,110. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5,501.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,021.32. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $185.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.40.
Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 143.67%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $20.39 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Booking Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.89%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other 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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Booking Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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