Castleark Management LLC Has $29.30 Million Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Castleark Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 165.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,472 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,412 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises approximately 0.9% of Castleark Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $29,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Booking by 0.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,271,041,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Booking by 6.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 405,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,187,269,000 after purchasing an additional 25,522 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Booking by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 293,553 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,572,073,000 after purchasing an additional 9,732 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 4.7% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 286,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,549,202,000 after purchasing an additional 12,897 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. 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 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $164.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $169.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.10. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on BKNG. Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $256.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $226.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.14.

Booking 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.