OP Asset Management Ltd Buys Shares of 7,612 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 7,612 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,049,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Monetary Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management boosted its position in Booking by 2.1% during the third quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 97 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank grew its holdings in Booking by 3.4% during the third quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 57 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its position in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 140 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $180.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $140.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $233.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $169.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.94.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business 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 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $226.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.14.

About Booking

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.