Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Takes $622,000 Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Zions Bancorporation acquired a new position in Booking Holdings Inc., purchasing 135 shares valued at approximately $622,000 in the first quarter.
• Booking's earnings report exceeded estimates, with $55.40 EPS against a consensus of $50.32, and a revenue of $6.80 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 16%.
• Equities analysts are bullish on Booking, with multiple firms raising their price targets significantly, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,781.04.

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 135 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $622,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,620,154,000 after acquiring an additional 30,054 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,365,170,000 after buying an additional 18,268 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,416,318,000 after buying an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Up 1.8%

Booking stock traded up $97.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $5,461.54. The company had a trading volume of 144,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,132. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5,566.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5,105.18. The company has a market cap of $177.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,472.50 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. Booking's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $41.90 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's 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 transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BKNG. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $5,750.00 target price (up previously from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

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.