Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Acquired by Cardano Risk Management B.V.

Key Points

• Cardano Risk Management B.V. sharply increased its Booking Holdings stake by 862% in the fourth quarter, ending with 218,080 shares worth about $1.17 billion. Booking now makes up 1.2% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Booking reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.14 versus estimates of $1.08 and revenue of $5.53 billion slightly above forecasts. Revenue rose 16.2% year over year.
• Analysts remain generally positive on BKNG, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $227.14. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, payable June 30.

Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 862.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 218,080 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 195,411 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for 1.2% of Cardano Risk Management B.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Cardano Risk Management B.V. owned about 0.68% of Booking worth $1,167,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its position in Booking by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 92,287 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $494,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,770 shares during the period. L1 Capital International Pty Ltd increased its position in Booking by 366.9% in the 4th quarter. L1 Capital International Pty Ltd now owns 23,665 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $126,734,000 after acquiring an additional 18,597 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its position in Booking by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 1,104 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,912,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Booking by 195.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 405 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,167,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd increased its position in Booking by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,425,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Evercore set a $245.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. HSBC lowered their target price on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Booking from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $260.00 price target on Booking in a research note 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 stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.14.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $164.94 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $169.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.10. The firm has a market cap of $127.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Booking

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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