Royal Bank of Canada Grows Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 147,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,884 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Booking were worth $789,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 1.1% during the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.1% in the third quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 97 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.4% in the third quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 57 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 140 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $175.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $136.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $169.73 and its 200 day moving average is $183.94. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $246.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.14.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the 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 transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,351 shares of company stock worth $13,545,706. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.