Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Increases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 96 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 163.1% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,540,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 205 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Booking stock traded up $32.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $4,340.32. The stock had a trading volume of 20,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,670. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3,922.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,807.84. The firm has a market cap of $147.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,733.04 and a 12-month high of $4,371.17.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $4,100.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,130.18.

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.