Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $66.32 Million Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 99.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,358 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Booking were worth $66,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 133.3% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKNG. StockNews.com cut Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,064.21.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 1.2 %

BKNG stock opened at $4,064.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $3,772.09 and its 200-day moving average is $3,727.19. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,733.04 and a twelve month high of $4,144.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $37.62 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.