Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 30,054 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. to approximately $13.62 billion, owning 9.09% of the company's shares after acquiring an additional 30,054 shares in the first quarter.
• Booking Holdings reported earnings of $55.40 per share in its latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting a 16% year-over-year revenue increase to $6.80 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, which will be paid in September, representing a 0.7% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 26.71%.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 30,054 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.09% of Booking worth $13,620,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Booking during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,781.04.

Insider Transactions at Booking

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 stock was 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 approximately $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $26.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $5,405.91. The stock had a trading volume of 186,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 199,192. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,394.85 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The firm's fifty day moving average is $5,569.71 and its 200 day moving average is $5,095.71. The stock has a market cap of $175.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Booking's payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Booking Company 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.