Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Holdings Lifted by Platform Technology Partners

Platform Technology Partners boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,190.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,811 shares during the period. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in Booking were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 3,475.0% in the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Booking by 3,550.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN grew its position in Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BKNG. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 price objective (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Evercore set a $245.00 price target on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $212.06 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $231.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.65. The company has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Booking Company 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.