Rakuten Securities Inc. Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 37 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Norges Bank bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,068,137,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Booking by 1.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 383,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,184,224,000 after acquiring an additional 5,040 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Booking by 61.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 295,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $596,303,000 after acquiring an additional 112,831 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 217,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $510,828,000 after buying an additional 5,506 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.8% in the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 149,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $462,290,000 after buying an additional 4,048 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,443.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.68 billion, a PE ratio of 29.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,586.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,364.25. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,456.93 and a 1-year high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $24.74 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Booking from $3,548.00 to $3,435.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.