Legal & General Group Plc Takes $992.03 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,565,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $992,026,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.74% of Booking as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth about $98,092,000. Trajan Wealth LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,414,000. Peak Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,681,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $175,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,581,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This trade represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $213.36 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $230.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.09.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report 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. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.45.

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.