NewEdge Wealth LLC Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $827,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,475.0% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC boosted its position 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 period. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN grew its stake in Booking by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $79,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,404,063. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $240.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG opened at $209.62 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $231.80. The stock has a market cap of $157.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $188.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.19.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date 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.