Optas LLC Has $425,000 Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Optas LLC cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 101 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter valued at $5,322,600,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4,565.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,143,000 after buying an additional 61,268 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Booking by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $702,049,000 after buying an additional 43,743 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Booking by 106.0% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $282,590,000 after acquiring an additional 36,710 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in Booking by 2,315.8% during the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 36,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,755,000 after acquiring an additional 35,270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BKNG. Wedbush upped their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Booking from $4,250.00 to $4,800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Booking from $5,050.00 to $5,550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,680.18.

Booking Trading Up 1.6 %

BKNG opened at $4,749.11 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $4,136.96 and its 200-day moving average is $3,883.88. The company has a market cap of $157.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,756.39 and a 1-year high of $4,856.60.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $83.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $77.94 by $5.95. The firm had revenue of $7.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.63 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.85% and a negative return on equity of 166.06%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.79 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 23.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking 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.