Mill Capital Management LLC Invests $25.61 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Mill Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 143,681 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $25,610,000. Booking accounts for 1.7% of Mill Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Plan Group Financial LLC bought a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth $261,000. Hardy Reed LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,831,000. Dockside LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,263,000. Northstar Group Inc. bought a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,617,000. Finally, Platform Technology Partners grew its position in Booking by 2,190.2% in the 2nd quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 3,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $212.06 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $184.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.65. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho set a $240.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,200,000. The trade was a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% 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 have sold a total of 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking 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.