Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired 311,594 Booking Holdings shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $55.5 million. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.45; recent targets range from $220 to $247.
• Booking exceeded quarterly expectations with $2.54 in earnings per share and $7.35 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 8.1% year over year. The company also declared a $0.42 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 0.8% annual yield.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 311,594 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $55,539,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Booking during the second quarter worth approximately $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,370,455,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $992,026,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $770,673,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. Wedbush raised their target price on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price objective on Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $234.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.45.

Booking Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $202.56 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $191.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.49. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $226.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $79,125.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,404,063. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 50,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the sale, the vice president owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at $77,851,439.75. This trade represents a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BKNG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report).

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.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source