New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Grows Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,655.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,452 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Booking were worth $7,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in Booking by 3,475.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Booking by 3,550.0% during the second quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Financial Corp IN raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% 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 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $205.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $226.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $192.18 and its 200 day moving average is $177.64.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.Booking’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $188.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.45.

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.