OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Makes New $1.23 Million Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $1,370,455,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 23,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total value of $206,700.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $245.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Gordon Haskett raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $210.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Booking Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $209.62 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $188.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.19. The stock has a market cap of $157.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $55.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

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.