Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys Shares of 2,652,172 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,652,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $472,723,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.35% of Booking as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 112 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 1.7% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 53 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BKNG. Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus boosted their price target on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,100,500. This trade represents a 6.25% 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 three months, insiders sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $204.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $153.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $184.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.85. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $55.40 EPS. Research analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. 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.