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

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 34.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,499 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Booking were worth $72,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,055,006,000 after acquiring an additional 23,159 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,271,041,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Booking by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 405,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,187,269,000 after acquiring an additional 25,522 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 286,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,549,202,000 after buying an additional 12,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Booking by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 234,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,268,127,000 after buying an additional 9,398 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $167.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $129.57 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.11. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on BKNG shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $246.00 to $220.00 in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $216.28 to $187.92 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued 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 a consensus price target of $227.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% 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, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,076 shares of company stock worth $16,417,121. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.