State Street Corp Purchases 6,976 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

State Street Corp boosted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the period. State Street Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $7,685,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 25.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Booking by 50.0% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $179,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $164.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $169.43 and its 200-day moving average is $184.10. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $233.58. The firm has a market cap of $127.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.08.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results 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. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 Booking 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Booking from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, May 29th. HSBC reduced their target price on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.14.

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.