Commerce Bank Acquires New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 366,169 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $65,266,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 2,860.8% during the second 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 period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 1,663.9% during the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,115,000 after acquiring an additional 27,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rit Capital Partners PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,396,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG opened at $209.62 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $231.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $188.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly 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. The company 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%.Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $55.40 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid 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 is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $274.00 price objective (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 target price on Booking and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $240.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,100,500. This represents a 6.25% 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. Insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.