Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Acquires New Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,332,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in Booking by 3,475.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3,550.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Barclays set a $210.00 price target on Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $209.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $188.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.19.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during 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 revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $55.40 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at $3,404,063. This trade represents a 2.27% 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, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of Booking 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.