Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3,723.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,397 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,282 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Booking were worth $784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of BKNG opened at $213.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $160.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $183.08 and a 200-day moving average of $177.00. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $206,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,100,500. This represents a 6.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho set a $240.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore set a $245.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

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.