New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $159.39 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 840 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Booking worth $159,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in Booking by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Booking by 18.6% during the second 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 during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 67.3% in the second 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 lifted its position in Booking by 1.0% in the second 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 boosted its stake in Booking by 12.7% during the second 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,640.00 to $6,050.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6,250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,179.42.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total transaction of $3,213,456.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,162,642.46. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total transaction of $75,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,510. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,193,557. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,492.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5,157.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,373.75. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $4,096.23 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market cap of $177.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.23.

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. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The company had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $83.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

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.