E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Acquires New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 30,059 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,358,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in Booking by 2,860.8% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after buying an additional 12,130 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 1,663.9% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,115,000 after acquiring an additional 27,071 shares during the period. Rit Capital Partners PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,396,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,643.0% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 527,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,008,000 after acquiring an additional 508,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC decreased their price target on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $274.00 price objective (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $240.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Booking News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Booking’s KAYAK brand reported that international airfares for U.K. travelers in September and October are averaging 26% below peak-season levels. Cheaper “shoulder-season” travel could encourage additional bookings and support demand across Booking’s accommodation and travel platforms. KAYAK shoulder-season travel research
• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain supportive. Booking’s latest quarterly revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $7.35 billion and earnings exceeded analyst expectations. Analysts maintain a broadly favorable view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $235.72, above recent trading levels. Booking growth-stock analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, or $1.68 annually, representing an approximately 0.8% yield. The payout signals ongoing shareholder returns but is modest and is unlikely to materially affect the stock’s near-term direction.
• Negative Sentiment: Booking Vice President Peter Millones sold 50,050 shares worth approximately $10.4 million, reducing his position by 11.77%. Director Vanessa Ames Wittman separately sold 375 shares for about $79,000. Both transactions were executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their significance as bearish signals; Millones still retains roughly $77.9 million in BKNG stock. Booking insider share sales

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 company’s 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 sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $213.00 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $186.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.12. The company has a market capitalization of $160.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

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.