Facet Wealth Inc. Invests $259,000 in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Facet Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 47 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,620,154,000 after purchasing an additional 30,054 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Booking by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,706,063,000 after buying an additional 1,699 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Booking by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,365,170,000 after buying an additional 18,268 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Booking by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 226,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,297,331,000 after buying an additional 19,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,023,655,000 after buying an additional 8,015 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6,200.00 target price (up from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,750.00 price objective (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $6,450.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Booking from $5,418.00 to $5,443.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,014.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total transaction of $3,213,456.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,982 shares in the company, valued at $118,162,642.46. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total transaction of $352,755.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,197 shares of company stock worth $17,260,963 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 2.1%

BKNG opened at $5,254.40 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5,427.23 and a 200 day moving average of $5,378.47. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $170.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.54, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.35.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $41.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.