B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Takes $11.69 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired 65,568 Booking Holdings shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $11.69 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.42% of BKNG.
• Booking insiders sold 140,050 shares worth $26.34 million over the past three months, including sizable sales by the CFO and a vice president under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $235.72. Booking recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while its $0.42 quarterly dividend implies a 0.8% yield.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 65,568 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,687,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Booking by 25.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in Booking by 50.0% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth $179,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% 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 three months, insiders have sold 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $209.87 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $187.71 and a 200-day moving average of $177.15. The stock has a market cap of $157.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $55.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking's payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.

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