GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 53.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 314 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BKNG. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Booking from $3,700.00 to $4,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,039.73.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $336.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $3,328.13. 801,623 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 242,833. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,733.04 and a 1 year high of $4,144.32. The stock has a market cap of $112.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3,872.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,692.09.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 237.46% and a net margin of 22.46%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $37.62 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.