Summit Global Investments Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 10,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,907,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after buying an additional 816,022 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 66,209.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 659,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,600,000 after buying an additional 658,788 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 2,548.6% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 649,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,785,000 after buying an additional 625,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $3,271,041,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This trade represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of Booking 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $212.06 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $184.00 and its 200 day moving average is $176.65. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80. The company has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $55.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price objective on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

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.