OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Increases Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 1.7% during the first quarter, now holding approximately $51.4 million worth of the stock.
• Analysts have given Booking Holdings a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with a target price averaging $5,781.04, reflecting optimism in the company's future performance.
• Booking recently announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, signaling ongoing financial stability and a 0.7% yield for investors.

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,154 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Booking makes up approximately 1.4% of OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings in Booking were worth $51,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth $41,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp acquired a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth $46,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of BKNG traded down $117.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $5,386.29. The stock had a trading volume of 199,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 194,527. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,568.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5,077.69. The company has a market capitalization of $174.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BKNG. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $5,750.00 price objective (up previously from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

About Booking

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.