Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 34,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Booking were worth $160,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at $41,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp acquired a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $6,200.00 target price (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,454.29 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $5,558.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5,126.10. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,592.28 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market cap of $176.77 billion, a PE ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $41.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.71%.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.