Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 625,076 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,548.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 649,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 625,076 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Booking were worth $115,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. First Financial Corp IN lifted its position in Booking by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC decreased their price objective on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Gordon Haskett increased their price target on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $240.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,625 shares of company stock worth $11,652,075. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $212.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $159.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.61. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.43 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

About Booking

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.