State Street Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,674.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,999,915 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 0.05% of Booking worth $7,026,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Security National Bank of SO Dak purchased a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Booking by 2,935.6% in the 2nd quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 6,557 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after buying an additional 6,341 shares during the period. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $213,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3,217.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 759,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $135,437,000 after acquiring an additional 736,947 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,879.5% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 52,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,342,000 after acquiring an additional 51,093 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price target on Booking in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.98.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG traded down $6.64 on Tuesday, hitting $161.88. 6,208,238 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,189,824. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $225.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $193.13 and its 200 day moving average is $179.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company earned $55.40 EPS. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer 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. 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 three months, insiders sold 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global provider of online travel and related services. The company connects consumers with accommodations, flights, rental cars, restaurants and travel experiences through a portfolio of digital brands and websites.

Its principal brands include Booking.com, which offers lodging, transportation and travel experiences; Priceline, which provides online booking services for hotels, flights, rental cars and vacation packages; Agoda, which focuses primarily on travel bookings in Asia and other international markets; KAYAK, a travel metasearch engine; OpenTable, a restaurant reservation and management platform; and Rentalcars.com, a global car rental service.

Booking Holdings serves customers, travel providers and restaurants across numerous countries and regions, with a particularly extensive international presence.