First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 3,574 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 10th, 2023

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG – Get Rating) by 48.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,574 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Booking were worth $18,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AKO Capital LLP grew its stake in shares of Booking by 6.3% during the third quarter. AKO Capital LLP now owns 366,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $602,867,000 after purchasing an additional 21,609 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.0% during the second quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 315,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $552,273,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 217,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $510,828,000 after purchasing an additional 5,506 shares during the period. Public Investment Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth $373,371,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.7% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 163,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $268,220,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 35 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,297.91, for a total value of $80,426.85. Following the sale, the director now owns 723 shares in the company, valued at $1,661,388.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 35 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,297.91, for a total value of $80,426.85. Following the sale, the director now owns 723 shares in the company, valued at $1,661,388.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,314.64, for a total value of $231,464.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 44,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,867,155.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,120 shares of company stock worth $4,893,155. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $2,505.39 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $1,616.85 and a 52-week high of $2,630.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.33 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $2,388.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2,060.27.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The business services provider reported $24.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $20.97 by $3.77. Booking had a return on equity of 107.86% and a net margin of 17.89%. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $15.83 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 35.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 125.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BKNG. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on Booking from $2,600.00 to $2,850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Booking from $2,675.00 to $2,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Booking from $2,250.00 to $2,630.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Booking from $2,700.00 to $2,850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on Booking from $2,650.00 to $2,900.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,675.16.

About Booking

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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.