Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 4,883 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 86.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,883 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Booking were worth $44,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock worth $13,545,706 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” 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-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.26.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $178.39 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.00. The firm has a market cap of $138.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced 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 net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The firm’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 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

About Booking

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.