Haverford Trust Co Acquires New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Haverford Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $646,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,370,455,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $472,723,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $245.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Benchmark upped their target price on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Gordon Haskett raised their price target on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research report 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the sale, the vice president owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,851,439.75. This trade represents a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $79,125.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,404,063. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $209.62 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80. The company has a market capitalization 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $188.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

About Booking

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.