Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,406,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Booking by 133.3% in the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America cut their target price on Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,064.21.

Insider Transactions 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,248.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3,789.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,750.42. The firm has a market cap of $144.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,733.04 and a 12 month high of $4,272.88.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given 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 0.82%. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

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.