CCLA Investment Management Acquires New Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

CCLA Investment Management acquired a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 22,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $119,522,000. CCLA Investment Management owned 0.07% of Booking as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. CW Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Broadleaf Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the first quarter valued at $2,999,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on BKNG. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $5,433.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,149.23.

Booking Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,394.36 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5,077.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $5,374.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.06, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.25. 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 earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $83.39 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total value of $80,430.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,124. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,759,275.30. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking 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.