Bank of Nova Scotia Has $57.27 Million Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 99.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,893 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,479,605 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Booking were worth $57,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at about $2,210,917,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 578,824.0% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,675,765,000 after purchasing an additional 289,412 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 658,925.0% in the second quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 105,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,441,000 after buying an additional 105,428 shares in the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $536,675,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Booking by 79.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 154,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $695,259,000 after buying an additional 68,243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,177.39 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $5,071.78 and its 200-day moving average is $5,382.00. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $4,096.23 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $166.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. The business had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $83.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,640.00 to $6,050.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Seaport Global Securities upped their target price on Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,146.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total transaction of $352,755.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,045.80. This represents a 32.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570,000. The trade was a 11.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 3,388 shares of company stock valued at $17,629,822 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Profile

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.