LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 815 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,229,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Booking by 133.3% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of 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. Eleven investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,064.21.

Booking Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,802.89 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,772.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,698.81. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,733.04 and a 52 week high of $4,144.32. The company has a market cap of $127.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $37.62 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.03 EPS for the current 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 issued 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 0.92%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.