OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Acquires New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 178,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,808,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKNG. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2,860.8% during the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 12,130 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 1,663.9% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,115,000 after purchasing an additional 27,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rit Capital Partners PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,396,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. The trade was 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 have sold a total of 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $209.62 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $188.60 and a 200 day moving average of $176.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid 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 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.