Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

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Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,715 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,725 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.05% of Booking worth $77,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Booking during the first quarter valued at about $41,000. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Trading Down 2.1%

Booking stock traded down $117.77 during midday trading 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 company has a market capitalization of $174.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $5,568.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,076.22.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

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.