Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Has $600.90 Million Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 112,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 31,029 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up about 3.4% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $600,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Booking by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Booking by 25.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its position in Booking by 50.0% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $179,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $169.25 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $233.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $170.33 and its 200 day moving average is $186.11. The company has a market cap of $131.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors 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 payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna set a $260.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $216.28 to $187.92 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 Booking stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was 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. Insiders have sold a total of 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.