Align Financial LLC Takes $345.64 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Align Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 64,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $345,638,000. Booking comprises approximately 1.6% of Align Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.1% during the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management lifted its position in Booking by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 97 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank lifted its position in Booking by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 57 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its position in Booking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 140 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $171.63 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $132.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $169.64 and a 200 day moving average of $183.77. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Booking from $260.00 to $237.40 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Booking from $226.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.14.

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.