Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stake Raised by Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,770 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 4.3% of Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.’s holdings in Booking were worth $494,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Monetary Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Elgethun Capital Management raised its holdings in Booking by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 97 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank raised its holdings in Booking by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, CGN Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 57 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 0.8%

BKNG stock opened at $164.94 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $233.58. The stock has a market cap of $127.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day moving average is $169.43 and its 200 day moving average is $184.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Booking’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.14.

About Booking

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.