Deutsche Bank AG Raises Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 6.6% in Q1, now owning 296,331 shares valued at approximately $1.37 billion.
• Booking Holdings reported earnings of $55.40 per share for the quarter, surpassing estimates and showing a 16% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company declared a $9.60 quarterly dividend, with an annual yield of 0.7%, scheduled for payment on September 30th.

Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 296,331 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,268 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.91% of Booking worth $1,365,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,620,154,000 after buying an additional 30,054 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 521,609.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Booking by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,416,318,000 after buying an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 3.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,200 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,023,655,000 after buying an additional 8,015 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG traded down $26.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5,405.91. 186,426 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 199,192. The company has a market cap of $175.21 billion, a PE ratio of 37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,394.85 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5,569.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5,095.71.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $41.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. JMP Securities upped their target price on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,750.00 price objective (up previously from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.