Profund Advisors LLC Purchases 767 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Profund Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 23.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the period. Booking accounts for approximately 0.6% of Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $16,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth $401,371,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $220,080,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 4,565.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,143,000 after buying an additional 61,268 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its stake in Booking by 96.3% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 113,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $403,233,000 after buying an additional 55,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Booking by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $702,049,000 after acquiring an additional 43,743 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

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

Booking Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,064.01 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $3,772.09 and its 200 day moving average is $3,727.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,733.04 and a 1 year high of $4,144.32.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,064.21.

Booking Company 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.