Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 61,164 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 61,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,902,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,370,455,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $992,026,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $550,554,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total value of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,100,500. The trade was a 6.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 50,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% 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. Insiders have sold 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $213.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $160.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $190.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.35. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $229.13.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $240.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.45.

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.