39,756 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Acquired by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 39,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,086,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Booking by 1.7% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 53 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 97 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% 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 a total of 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $209.62 on Monday. The company has a market cap 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $188.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.84. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $55.40 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given 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 currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $274.00 target price (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Gordon Haskett lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.