Commerce Bank Invests $65.27 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 366,169 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $65,266,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth about $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth about $1,370,455,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,055,006,000 after acquiring an additional 23,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $210.00 price target on Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Booking Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $209.62 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $231.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $188.60 and a 200 day moving average of $177.00.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 18.58%.

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.