Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is Rovida Investment Management Ltd's 7th Largest Position

Key Points

• Rovida Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. by 66.7%, making it the 7th largest position in their portfolio, valued at approximately $11.5 million.
• Recent analyst reports have raised Booking's price target, with the highest being $6,700, indicating a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” among analysts.
• CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold over 1,000 shares of Booking stock, reducing his holdings by approximately 3.66%, with recent insider sales totaling $16.96 million.

Rovida Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 66.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,500 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for 3.6% of Rovida Investment Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Rovida Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Booking were worth $11,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of 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 valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,631 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,103,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Petros Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $368,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $6,000.00 price target (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $6,700.00 price target (up previously from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the 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 value of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,405.91 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,394.85 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $5,569.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $5,099.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 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 business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $41.90 EPS. Booking's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

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.

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