Pacer Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly increased its ownership in Booking Holdings Inc. by acquiring an additional 104,780 shares, resulting in a total of 112,201 shares owned, which makes up 1.2% of their investment portfolio.
• Insider trading activity reported that CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares for approximately $5.77 million, decreasing his position by 3.66%.
• Booking Holdings recently declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.68% and a payout ratio of 23.89% as per their latest financial disclosures.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 1,411.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 112,201 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 104,780 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 1.2% of Pacer Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.34% of Booking worth $516,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.3% during the first quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 136,309 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $627,963,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 11.6% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,611 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,848,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 11.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,301 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,243,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 15.5% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,036 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,772,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, One Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 22.3% during the first quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 412 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the 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 value of $5,769,035.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG traded down $73.20 on Tuesday, reaching $5,605.55. 104,421 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 252,437. The stock has a market cap of $182.40 billion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.40. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $5,552.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,057.72. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 143.67%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $20.39 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,481.78.

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.