UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG – Free Report) by 2,525.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,101,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,869,459 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.81% of Booking worth $1,087,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Booking by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its position in Booking by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $274.00 price objective (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.45.
Booking Stock Performance
Shares of BKNG stock opened at $205.63 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $192.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.64. The stock has a market cap of $154.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $226.10.
Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $55.40 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.
Booking Announces Dividend
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 paid 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 presently 18.58%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Booking
In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $79,125.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at $3,404,063. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 sold 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.
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