Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $166,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the third quarter valued at $5,322,600,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 4,565.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,143,000 after acquiring an additional 61,268 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 106.0% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,590,000 after purchasing an additional 36,710 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 2,315.8% in the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $125,615,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,920.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $162.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,199.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,914.68. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $2,998.52 and a one year high of $5,060.50.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,650.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $4,600.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Twelve investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,749.83.

About Booking

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.