Westpac Banking Corp Acquires Shares of 56,047 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 56,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,990,000. Booking makes up 0.6% of Westpac Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,860.8% during the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,238,000 after buying an additional 12,130 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 1,663.9% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,115,000 after buying an additional 27,071 shares during the period. Finally, Rit Capital Partners PLC acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,396,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 price objective on Booking and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays set a $210.00 price target on Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price objective on Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $79,125.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,063. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $209.62 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $188.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio 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.