Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Invests $53.46 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 12,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,463,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in Booking in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% 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 quarter, insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $2.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $178.39. 3,974,630 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,066,356. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $168.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.49. The company has a market cap of $138.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

Booking 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.