Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Purchases 4,047 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 195.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,047 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Booking were worth $23,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $401,371,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 32,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $113,827,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the period. Commerce Bank increased its position in shares of Booking by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 18,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $67,234,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 3,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,029,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in Booking by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 2,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,518,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,064.21.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,028.30 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3,769.71 and a 200-day moving average of $3,718.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,733.04 and a 52 week high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $37.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.