Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,071,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $369,189,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.28% of Booking as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,370,455,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $992,026,000. 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 valued at $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $213.78 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $229.13. The company has a market cap of $160.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $190.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.35.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued 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 yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays set a $210.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.45.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,100,500. The trade was a 6.25% 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. Insiders sold 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking 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.