Flputnam Investment Management Co. Purchases New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Flputnam Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 138,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $24,773,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,370,455,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in Booking by 191,965.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after buying an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 66,209.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 659,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $117,600,000 after purchasing an additional 658,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Booking by 2,548.6% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 649,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $115,785,000 after purchasing an additional 625,076 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $212.06 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.65. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The stock has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.