Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 6,172 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,660.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,172 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the third quarter worth about $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,200,000. The trade was a 23.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,625 shares of company stock worth $11,652,075. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $212.88 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.61. The stock has a market cap of $159.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $55.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Gordon Haskett raised their target price on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.