Sei Investments Co. Raises Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 96.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 83,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 41,061 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Booking were worth $351,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Booking by 28,353.8% in the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,094,083,000 after purchasing an additional 203,580 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Booking by 862.0% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,890,000 after purchasing an additional 195,411 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Booking by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,173,899,000 after purchasing an additional 128,700 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of BKNG opened at $177.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $231.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.43.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Evercore set a $245.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wedbush assumed coverage on Booking in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.