Deutsche Bank AG Has $1.57 Billion Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 293,553 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,732 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 0.5% of Deutsche Bank AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,572,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $163.99 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $233.58. The company has a market cap of $127.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $169.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.67.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (down from $180.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, May 29th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’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 transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company 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.