Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by State Street Corp

State Street Corp raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,674.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,999,915 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 5.25% of Booking worth $7,026,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Security National Bank of SO Dak purchased a new position in Booking in the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 2,935.6% in the 2nd quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 6,557 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 6,341 shares during the last quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $213,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,217.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 759,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $135,437,000 after purchasing an additional 736,947 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 3,879.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 52,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,342,000 after purchasing an additional 51,093 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,000. The trade was a 23.81% 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 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Mizuho set a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Rosenblatt Securities started coverage on Booking in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.98.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock traded down $6.64 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $161.88. 6,208,238 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,189,824. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.25. The company has a market cap of $121.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $225.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $55.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. 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 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global provider of online travel and related services. The company connects consumers with accommodations, flights, rental cars, restaurants and travel experiences through a portfolio of digital brands and websites.

Its principal brands include Booking.com, which offers lodging, transportation and travel experiences; Priceline, which provides online booking services for hotels, flights, rental cars and vacation packages; Agoda, which focuses primarily on travel bookings in Asia and other international markets; KAYAK, a travel metasearch engine; OpenTable, a restaurant reservation and management platform; and Rentalcars.com, a global car rental service.

Booking Holdings serves customers, travel providers and restaurants across numerous countries and regions, with a particularly extensive international presence.