Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by CIBC Asset Management Inc

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 34.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,499 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Booking were worth $72,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $1,327,000. Rational Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $868,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Booking by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 443 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Booking by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 892 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,777,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Booking by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 4,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,997,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Booking from $216.28 to $187.92 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $240.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% 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, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,076 shares of company stock worth $16,417,121. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $167.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $129.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $233.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $170.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.11.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

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.