Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Purchases Shares of 1,345 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise invested approximately $6.20 million in Booking Holdings Inc., acquiring 1,345 shares during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Summit Securities and Bernard Wealth Management, have also recently increased their stakes in Booking, which is dominated by institutional ownership at 92.42%.
• Booking Holdings received multiple upgrades from analysts, with price targets ranging from $5,500 to $5,900, reflecting a general bullish sentiment on its stock performance.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,345 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,196,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Booking by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Booking by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.2% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG traded down $114.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $5,389.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 130,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,183. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The company's fifty day moving average price is $5,567.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,070.33. The company has a market capitalization of $174.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $6,000.00 price objective (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,750.00 price target (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 price target on Booking and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Company 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.