Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 11,683 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 412.7%, now holding 14,514 shares valued at approximately $66.87 million.
• CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares for over $5.7 million, reducing his ownership by 3.66% to 26,633 shares, valued at around $151.67 million.
• Booking recently declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 412.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,514 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,683 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Booking were worth $66,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Mechanics Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on BKNG. DA Davidson raised their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,781.04.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's 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 transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares in the company, 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 through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded down $26.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $5,435.14. The company had a trading volume of 92,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 250,963. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5,565.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,107.65. The firm has a market cap of $176.15 billion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,557.64 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $41.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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