The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 550,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $98,092,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake 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 increased its position in Booking by 3,550.0% during 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 purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN lifted its holdings in Booking by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,000. The trade was a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Gordon Haskett raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays set a $210.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.45.

Booking Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of BKNG opened at $213.78 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $229.13. The stock has a market cap of $160.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.66, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Booking Company 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.