Rit Capital Partners PLC Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Rit Capital Partners initiated a new position in Booking Holdings, buying 9,600 shares valued at about $51.4 million. The stake makes Booking the fund’s 2nd largest holding and roughly 11.5% of its portfolio.
• Institutional interest in Booking remains strong, with several other large investors also adding shares and institutions now owning 92.42% of the company. This suggests the stock continues to attract heavy professional investment despite recent share-price weakness.
• Booking reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.14 versus $1.08 expected and revenue of $5.53 billion, up 16.2% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, yielding about 1.0% annually.

Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,600 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $51,396,000. Booking makes up about 11.5% of Rit Capital Partners PLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 28,353.8% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after purchasing an additional 203,580 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 61.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 215,871 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,165,546,000 after purchasing an additional 82,326 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 8,004.7% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 70,430 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $377,176,000 after purchasing an additional 69,561 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $361,463,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 4,137.1% during the 3rd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 49,277 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $266,060,000 after purchasing an additional 48,114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $161.06 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $233.58. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $171.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Booking from $260.00 to $237.40 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.14.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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. 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 34,576 shares of company stock valued at $6,187,746 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.

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