Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Acquired by Petredis Investment Advisors LLC

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,335.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,335 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Equity Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Booking by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Equity Wealth Partners LLC now owns 101 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 52 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,158,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,434,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 112 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,625 shares of company stock valued at $11,652,075. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $212.26 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $182.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.92. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80. The firm has a market cap of $159.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $55.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on BKNG. Benchmark increased their price target on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. HSBC reduced their target price on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.