Cumberland Partners Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 46.7%, acquiring 175 additional shares, bringing its total holdings to 550 shares valued at $2,534,000.
• Analysts have generally favored Booking, with 11 maintaining a hold rating, 19 issuing buy ratings, and an average price target of $5,781.04, after several recent upgrades.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $55.40, exceeding expectations, alongside a 16.0% year-over-year revenue increase to $6.80 billion.

Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 46.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 550 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd's holdings in Booking were worth $2,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Booking by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,675,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC raised its stake in Booking by 86.1% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 1,822 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,052,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $50,236,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG traded down $117.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5,386.29. The company had a trading volume of 199,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 194,527. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $5,568.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,077.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $41.90 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Booking's payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 price objective on Booking and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,781.04.

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.