Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $43.77 Million Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 14.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $43,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. Integrity Alliance LLC. acquired a new stake in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at $208,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Booking by 11.1% during the first quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the first quarter valued at $41,034,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,570,000. This trade represents a 11.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total value of $3,213,456.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,162,642.46. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.9%

BKNG stock opened at $5,492.11 on Friday. 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 cap of $177.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5,157.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5,374.51.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking’s payout ratio is 24.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective 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. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Booking in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $6,100.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,179.42.

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.