University of Chicago Purchases New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• The University of Chicago has invested $336,000 in Booking Holdings Inc., purchasing 73 shares, which now represents approximately 0.5% of its investment portfolio, making it the third biggest holding of the university.
• Booking Holdings reported earnings of $55.40 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, with quarterly revenue of $6.80 billion, a 16% increase compared to the previous year.
• Insider trading activity includes CEO Glenn D. Fogel selling 1,013 shares of Booking stock for over $5.7 million, reflecting a 3.66% decrease in his position.

University of Chicago acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 73 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $336,000. Booking accounts for 0.5% of University of Chicago's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $6,700.00 target price (up previously from $6,100.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were 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 directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Booking stock traded down $49.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $5,454.56. 24,873 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 253,456. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $5,567.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $5,070.33. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. Booking's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $41.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

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.