Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Newly Acquired by Matrix Trust Co

Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,349 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 1,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,912,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Silvant Capital Management LLC now owns 1,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,244,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, Canopy Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.38.

Booking Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded down $1.19 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $156.44. 3,098,389 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,224,297. The company has a market capitalization of $117.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $188.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.23. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $220.81.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total value of $610,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 73,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,935,432. This trade represents a 3.93% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 83,050 shares of company stock valued at $17,182,274. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.