Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock: Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Trims Position

Key Points

• Aware Super reduced its Booking Holdings stake by 9% in the third quarter, selling 18,402 shares and retaining 186,617 shares valued at approximately $30.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.42% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally favorable outlook, with Booking holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $233.07, despite some neutral and reduce ratings.
• Booking reported quarterly revenue of $7.35 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.54 per share, exceeding estimates, while revenue increased 8.1% year over year. The stock recently opened at $153.75, near its 52-week low of $146.28.

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super reduced its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 186,617 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 18,402 shares during the period. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super's holdings in Booking were worth $30,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter valued at about $345,000. Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co bought a new stake in Booking in the first quarter valued at about $400,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors lifted its stake in Booking by 163.6% during the first quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors now owns 116 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter valued at about $505,000. Finally, Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS acquired a new stake in Booking during the first quarter worth about $509,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $188.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $233.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,800,000. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 78,425 shares of company stock valued at $16,210,864 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $153.75 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.28 and a 52-week high of $220.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $170.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.96.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant-reservation company that connects consumers with travel providers through digital platforms and mobile applications. Its services include accommodations, flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, restaurant reservations and other travel-related offerings.

The company operates a portfolio of well-known brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and Kayak-associated travel services.

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