Swedbank AB Has $190.92 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Booking were worth $190,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. CW Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 13.3% in the first quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 20.3% during the first quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 754 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,472,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Booking by 45.6% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 26,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $123,921,000 after purchasing an additional 8,426 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Seaport Global Securities upped their price target on shares of Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued 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 $6,149.23.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total transaction of $80,430.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,124. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 571 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,414.53, for a total value of $3,091,696.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,759,275.30. This trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,193,557 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,439.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.31 billion, a PE ratio of 35.35, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5,083.78 and its 200-day moving average is $5,371.61. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $4,096.23 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. The company had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $83.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 24.96%.

Booking Company 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.