Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Buys 182 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,260 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 182 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Booking were worth $23,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 1.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 854,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,936,132,000 after acquiring an additional 9,333 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,210,917,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 379,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,197,495,000 after purchasing an additional 24,030 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 377,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,183,690,000 after purchasing an additional 17,662 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 578,824.0% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,675,765,000 after purchasing an additional 289,412 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BKNG. Gordon Haskett lifted their price target on Booking from $5,620.00 to $5,710.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6,250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, December 29th. Benchmark increased their price target on Booking from $6,200.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,209.94.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,191.15, for a total transaction of $77,867.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 687 shares in the company, valued at $3,566,320.05. This represents a 2.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total transaction of $4,937,817.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares in the company, valued at $101,631,984.10. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,190,323 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,098.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5,191.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5,337.30. The stock has a market cap of $164.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $83.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is 24.96%.

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.