Sapient Capital LLC Invests $26.12 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,115,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 2,479.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,234,000 after purchasing an additional 112,249 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $3,774,850,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 139.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 65,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $201,166,000 after purchasing an additional 37,994 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Booking by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 101,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $317,313,000 after purchasing an additional 30,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC raised its holdings in Booking by 161.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 39,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $120,937,000 after acquiring an additional 24,219 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total transaction of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG traded up $104.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $3,577.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 534,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,734. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,456.93 and a 52 week high of $3,918.00. The firm has a market cap of $121.70 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $3,524.43 and its 200-day moving average is $3,399.84.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 433.49% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BKNG. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,823.00.

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.