Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 3,700 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,578,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake in Booking by 191,965.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 28,353.8% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after purchasing an additional 203,580 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in Booking by 862.0% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,890,000 after purchasing an additional 195,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Booking by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,173,899,000 after purchasing an additional 128,700 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was 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 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BKNG. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.14.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $177.05 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $169.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.74. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $233.58. The company has a market capitalization of $137.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.08.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Booking News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BTIG initiated a Buy rating on Booking Holdings, reinforcing the view that the travel platform still has attractive long-term fundamentals and can benefit from resilient demand and strong cash generation. Booking Holdings (BKNG) Gets a Buy from BTIG
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish commentary pieces argued that the recent selloff in BKNG may be an opportunity, not a warning, with analysts pointing to robust cash flow, strong margins, and fair-to-attractive valuation around the low-20s earnings multiple. Booking Holdings: Selloff May Be More Of An Opportunity Than Warning
• Positive Sentiment: Booking shares previously surged after crude oil prices fell below $70, which investors viewed as a tailwind for travel demand because lower fuel costs can support more bookings and cheaper trips. Booking (BKNG) Shares Skyrocket, What You Need To Know
• Neutral Sentiment: One article compared Booking with RideNow Group, but it did not appear to introduce a new catalyst for BKNG. RideNow Group (NASDAQ:RDNW) versus Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Critical Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Despite bullish takes, BKNG also drew a headline questioning whether AI could disintermediate online travel agencies, which may have contributed to investor caution even though the article argued the threat is overstated. Booking Holdings: The AI Disintermediation Threat Is Overstated

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.