Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Purchases Shares of 1,233 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,885,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the first quarter worth approximately $401,371,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $220,080,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 4,565.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,143,000 after acquiring an additional 61,268 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 96.3% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 113,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $403,233,000 after purchasing an additional 55,716 shares during the period. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 29.2% during the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $702,049,000 after purchasing an additional 43,743 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. Benchmark dropped their price target on Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,064.21.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,064.01 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,733.04 and a 1 year high of $4,144.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3,772.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,727.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $37.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 26.25%.

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.