NFJ Investment Group LLC Takes $67.26 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group initiated a new position in Booking Holdings, buying 12,559 shares worth about $67.26 million; the stake makes up 2.4% of its portfolio and is its 6th largest holding.
• Booking’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $1.14 versus the $1.08 estimate and revenue of $5.53 billion, up 16.2% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, or $1.68 annualized.
• Analysts remain generally positive on BKNG, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $227.14, though some firms recently trimmed targets. Insider selling has also continued, including recent sales by a director and a vice president.

NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 12,559 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $67,258,000. Booking makes up 2.4% of NFJ Investment Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $16,055,006,000 after purchasing an additional 23,159 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,685,520,000 after purchasing an additional 6,976 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its position in shares of Booking by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 732,081 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,920,535,000 after purchasing an additional 56,999 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,271,041,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Booking by 6.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 405,105 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,187,269,000 after purchasing an additional 25,522 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $164.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $127.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $233.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $169.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.11.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Booking from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $246.00 to $220.00 in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Booking from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company's businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.