14,400 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,400 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $32,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2,674.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,026,348,000 after buying an additional 37,999,915 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth about $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth about $1,370,455,000. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.0% during the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,489,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,057,274,000 after buying an additional 64,584 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $155.67 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $168.99 and a 200-day moving average of $176.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.17. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.28 and a fifty-two week high of $220.81.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The business services provider reported $4.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.17. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%. The business had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $99.50 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 EPS for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Booking reported earnings of $4.66 per share, above analysts’ estimates of about $4.48–$4.49. Earnings coverage also pointed to growth in adjusted revenue, suggesting underlying operations performed better than the GAAP figures imply. Booking Holdings tops Q3 earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS lowered its price target to $265 from $274 but kept a Buy rating, signaling continued optimism while trimming its expectations. UBS rating and price target
• Negative Sentiment: A roughly $900 million FTC-related charge weighed on reported revenue. One report put GAAP revenue down about 1% year over year, despite growth in adjusted revenue, making the headline results look weaker. Reuters report on the FTC-related charge
• Negative Sentiment: Reports cited global conflicts weighing on travel demand and warned that growth could stall in the fourth quarter. That outlook may temper the market’s response to the earnings beat. Booking profit and sales report

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, VP Peter Millones, Jr. sold 50,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value 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 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 have sold 77,425 shares of company stock worth $16,004,164. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Booking from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.67.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant-reservation company that connects consumers with travel providers through digital platforms and mobile applications. Its services include accommodations, flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, restaurant reservations and other travel-related offerings.

The company operates a portfolio of well-known brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and Kayak-associated travel services.