Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd Buys New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 26,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,635,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,370,455,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $992,026,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $770,673,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 3.0%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $202.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $226.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $191.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.49.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total value of $206,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,100,500. This represents a 6.25% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus upped their target price on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.45.

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.