7,997 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Purchased by Vantage Investment Partners LLC

Vantage Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $33,670,000. Booking makes up 2.3% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 41.8% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 14.3% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. AlpenGlobal Capital LLC bought a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at $3,483,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $53,463,000. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Booking by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,995,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BKNG. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $214.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Evercore set a $245.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.26.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock traded up $2.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $178.39. 3,974,630 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,066,356. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The firm has a market cap of $138.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.25.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

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.