Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Booking worth $166,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in Booking by 4.7% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Booking during the first quarter worth about $359,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Booking during the first quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $4,600.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Mizuho raised their target price on Booking from $4,800.00 to $5,400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities increased their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,400.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Booking from $3,560.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,749.83.

Booking Stock Performance

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

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.