Arizona State Retirement System Buys 236,684 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,679.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 245,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 236,684 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Booking were worth $43,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Booking by 419,256.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 214,651,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,259,498,000 after purchasing an additional 214,600,394 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,370,455,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 2,525.5% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,101,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,087,597,000 after buying an additional 5,869,459 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, Director Robert Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,800,000. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 81,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,922,744. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $188.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.70.

Booking Stock Down 6.7%

Shares of Booking stock traded down $12.99 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $180.30. The company had a trading volume of 10,875,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,162,280. The stock has a market cap of $135.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.71. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $225.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. Booking’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s 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.