Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys New Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,071,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $369,189,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,370,455,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $992,026,000. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $79,125.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,063. This represents a 2.27% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total value of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,100,500. This trade represents a 6.25% 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. Insiders have sold 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Gordon Haskett increased their target price on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.45.

Booking Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $213.78 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $229.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.35.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.