Commerce Bank Grows Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Commerce Bank increased its stake in Booking Holdings by 5.5%, acquiring an additional 745 shares, bringing their total holdings to 14,289 shares valued at approximately $65.83 million.
• Booking Holdings reported $55.40 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and indicating a 16% year-over-year revenue increase to $6.80 billion.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, representing a yield of 0.7% and a total annual payout of $38.40.

Commerce Bank boosted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,289 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. Commerce Bank's holdings in Booking were worth $65,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 58 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 3,060 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,097,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 238 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in Booking by 287.2% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 333 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,534,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Booking by 6.1% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 52 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $117.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5,386.29. 199,536 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 184,546. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5,568.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,076.22. The company has a market cap of $174.57 billion, a PE ratio of 37.46, 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 the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The business 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $41.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. 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 currently 26.71%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $6,700.00 target price (up from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Booking from $5,800.00 to $5,650.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. 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 note on Monday, July 28th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.