Bowie Capital Management LLC Buys New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Bowie Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,243,000. Booking accounts for 1.2% of Bowie Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Traynor Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its stake in Booking by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 140 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in Booking by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,725,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 25 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $177.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $137.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.43.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Gordon Haskett increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler set a $195.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.