Northstar Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Northstar Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 31,513 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,617,000. Booking accounts for approximately 0.7% of Northstar Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares in 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 valued at $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 66,209.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2,548.6% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 649,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,785,000 after purchasing an additional 625,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,271,041,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore set a $245.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Gordon Haskett increased their price target on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $212.06 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.65.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This trade represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months, insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.