102,560 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Bought by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 102,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $18,278,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 2,860.8% during the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after acquiring an additional 12,130 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 1,663.9% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,115,000 after purchasing an additional 27,071 shares during the period. Finally, Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $51,396,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Argus raised their target price on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Monday. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% 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 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $205.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $226.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.64.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.