Evolve Private Wealth LLC Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,551 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $455,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 97 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 45 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,860,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler restated 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Gordon Haskett boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.45.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $213.78 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $229.13. The stock has a market cap of $160.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $190.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.35.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% 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, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This trade represents a 11.77% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold a total of 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.