1832 Asset Management L.P. Acquires 36,710 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 106.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,710 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. owned 0.21% of Booking worth $282,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the first quarter worth $401,371,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $220,080,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 4,565.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,143,000 after buying an additional 61,268 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 96.3% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 113,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $403,233,000 after buying an additional 55,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 29.2% in the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $702,049,000 after buying an additional 43,743 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

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

Booking Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,064.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,772.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,727.19. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,733.04 and a 12-month high of $4,144.32.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,064.21.

About Booking

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.