Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Acquired by Credit Agricole S A

Credit Agricole S A grew its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares during the period. Booking makes up approximately 0.5% of Credit Agricole S A’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Credit Agricole S A owned approximately 0.11% of Booking worth $171,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,532.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $179.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5,558.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,131.66. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,610.44 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $41.90 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on BKNG. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total value of $5,548,089.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at $134,841,031.80. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 4,052 shares of company stock valued at $22,511,858 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.