Korea Investment CORP Buys New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Korea Investment CORP acquired a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 582,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $103,747,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,475.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 3,550.0% in the second quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at $77,851,439.75. This trade represents a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,404,063. This trade represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $209.62 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $188.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.19. The company has a market cap of $157.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $55.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.