Magellan Asset Management Ltd Invests $34.40 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Magellan Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 192,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,400,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 25.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $179,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $209.62 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.