Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd Invests $4.28 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 24,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,280,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the second quarter worth approximately $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,370,455,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,055,006,000 after purchasing an additional 23,159 shares during the period. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after buying an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays set a $210.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.72.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $209.62 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $157.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $231.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $188.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.84.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $206,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,100,500. This trade represents a 6.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.