DSM Capital Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $1,742,160,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 2,479.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $414,234,000 after acquiring an additional 112,249 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $3,774,850,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 139.8% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 65,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $201,166,000 after acquiring an additional 37,994 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 101,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $317,313,000 after acquiring an additional 30,015 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded up $42.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3,795.35. 151,814 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 262,719. The company has a market capitalization of $128.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,456.93 and a 52-week high of $3,918.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3,604.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,499.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $11.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,157,314.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,651 shares of company stock worth $19,485,975. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BKNG. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn restated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,876.96.

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.