IFM Investors Pty Ltd Invests $28.39 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

IFM Investors Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 6,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,386,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in Booking in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. Evercore set a $245.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.11.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG opened at $178.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $138.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $168.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.26. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The business’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

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.