Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Acquires 305,012 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,720.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 316,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 305,012 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $56,364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 25.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Booking by 50.0% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the second quarter worth about $179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.45.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $205.63 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $226.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.64.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This trade represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Booking

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.