Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Invests $34.14 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 187,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,142,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew 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 purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth about $179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 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 three months, insiders sold 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BKNG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush raised their target price on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Benchmark boosted their price target on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.45.

Booking Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $205.63 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $226.10. The stock has a market cap of $154.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $192.18 and a 200 day moving average of $177.64.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 (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.