Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Acquired by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Booking were worth $71,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of Booking by 15.6% during the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Booking by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $437,284,000 after purchasing an additional 11,829 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 67.3% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $174,893,000 after purchasing an additional 12,148 shares in the last quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Booking by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,467,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Booking by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,262,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,570,000. The trade was a 11.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,193,557. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $5,427.15 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $5,116.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,370.96. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $4,096.23 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.92 billion, a PE ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $83.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Booking from $5,443.00 to $5,523.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seaport Global Securities increased their price target on shares of Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,149.23.

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.