Acadian Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 106,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,908 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 1.3% of Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned about 0.31% of Booking worth $420,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $1,742,160,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the first quarter valued at about $401,371,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $220,080,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 4,565.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,143,000 after purchasing an additional 61,268 shares during the period. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 96.3% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 113,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $403,233,000 after purchasing an additional 55,716 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,064.21.

Booking Stock Down 1.1 %

Booking stock opened at $3,731.35 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,773.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,699.80. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,733.04 and a twelve month high of $4,144.32. The company has a market capitalization of $126.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share 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 negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $37.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio 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.