Magellan Asset Management Ltd Raises Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,509 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.09% of Booking worth $86,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 64,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $151,044,000 after purchasing an additional 17,432 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Booking by 18.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 613 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth about $387,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,767,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 7.5% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Susana D’emic sold 1,989 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,039.28, for a total value of $6,045,127.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,080,599.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Booking news, CAO Susana D’emic sold 1,989 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,039.28, for a total transaction of $6,045,127.92. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,080,599.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David I. Goulden sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.75, for a total value of $1,760,412.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,142,440.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,989 shares of company stock valued at $15,303,166. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Down 0.1 %

BKNG traded down $4.64 on Tuesday, reaching $3,153.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 50,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,522. The company has a market capitalization of $110.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.36. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,899.31 and a fifty-two week high of $3,251.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3,002.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2,897.61.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The business services provider reported $72.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $67.85 by $4.47. Booking had a net margin of 25.70% and a return on equity of 840.22%. The business had revenue of $7.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $53.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 147.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Booking from $3,110.00 to $2,900.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Booking from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 13th. Melius assumed coverage on Booking in a report on Monday, July 31st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $3,500.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna increased their target price on Booking from $3,000.00 to $3,600.00 in a report on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Booking from $2,800.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,346.21.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.