Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 40,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,144,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $188.60 and its 200 day moving average is $177.00. The company has a market capitalization of $157.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results 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. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.