Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Purchased by Range Financial Group LLC

Range Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 692 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Booking accounts for 1.4% of Range Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Booking by 133.3% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,055.48.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of 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. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $3,762.44 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,782.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,699.13. The stock has a market cap of $126.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,733.04 and a 12 month high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $37.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 26.25%.

About Booking

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.