CI Investments Inc. Decreases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

CI Investments Inc. cut its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 55.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 21,564 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $73,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC increased its position 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 worth $1,094,083,000 after purchasing an additional 203,580 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position 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 worth $1,167,890,000 after purchasing an additional 195,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Booking by 15.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 128,700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BKNG. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (down from $180.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. HSBC decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Booking from $210.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.05.

Booking Trading Down 0.0%

Booking stock opened at $179.40 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $231.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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