Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Purchased by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Booking were worth $34,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $1,185,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Booking by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Booking by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 6,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,964,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Booking by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,477,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related 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 value 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the 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 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Benchmark cut their price target 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. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted 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 note on Tuesday, July 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,064.21.

Booking Stock Down 0.8 %

Booking stock opened at $4,212.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $142.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,795.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,758.88.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

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.