Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Has $5.38 Million Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. cut its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,167 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Booking by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $844,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,054,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Booking by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Booking by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKNG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Booking from $4,692.00 to $5,411.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Booking from $5,580.00 to $5,820.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,415.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total transaction of $5,425,698.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,073,911.22. This represents a 3.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $5,717.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.57, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5,448.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,997.21. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 143.67% and a net margin of 22.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $20.39 EPS. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.89%.

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.