Harvard Management Co. Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Harvard Management Co. Inc. increased its stake in Booking Holdings by 89.9%, making the stock its second largest holding.
• CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares at an average price of $5,695, resulting in a 3.66% decrease in his ownership.
• Booking announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, yielding 0.7% annually, with a payout ratio of 26.71%.

Harvard Management Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 89.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,600 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,800 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for 15.4% of Harvard Management Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Harvard Management Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Booking worth $173,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Booking in the first quarter worth $41,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking during the first quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp bought a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. JMP Securities increased their target price on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded down $26.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5,405.91. The stock had a trading volume of 186,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 199,192. The firm has a market cap of $175.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,394.85 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $5,569.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,095.71.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid 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 yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

Booking 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.