Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Increases Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 40.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,818 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,963 shares during the period. Booking accounts for 1.1% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $186,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,055,006,000 after buying an additional 23,159 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Booking by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,685,520,000 after buying an additional 6,976 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in Booking by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 732,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,920,535,000 after buying an additional 56,999 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $3,271,041,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Booking by 6.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 405,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,187,269,000 after buying an additional 25,522 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $164.94 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $169.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.11. The company has a market cap of $127.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% 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 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. 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, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.14.

Booking Profile

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.