Principal Securities Inc. Purchases 99 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $11,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the third quarter worth about $5,322,600,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 4,565.4% during the first 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 last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Booking by 29.2% during the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $702,049,000 after buying an additional 43,743 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake 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 valued at $282,590,000 after purchasing an additional 36,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,315.8% in the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 36,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,755,000 after purchasing an additional 35,270 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 4.8 %

Booking stock opened at $4,676.25 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,756.13 and a 12 month high of $4,856.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $4,118.59 and its 200-day moving average is $3,872.22. The company has a market capitalization of $156.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $83.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $77.94 by $5.95. The company had revenue of $7.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.63 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 165.63% and a net margin of 21.85%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $4,600.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Booking from $3,560.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,496.43.

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.