Temasek Holdings Private Ltd Raises Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 933.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,739 shares during the period. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd’s holdings in Booking were worth $134,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $361,463,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in Booking by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 22,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $122,396,000 after buying an additional 1,514 shares during the period. Rit Capital Partners PLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,396,000. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its position in Booking by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 64,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,604,000 after buying an additional 11,042 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Booking by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 56,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $300,364,000 after buying an additional 15,053 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $246.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 29th. B. Riley Financial lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $226.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,351 shares of company stock worth $13,545,706. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Trading Up 5.9%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $174.64 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.99. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $233.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

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.