Mariner LLC Raises Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Mariner LLC boosted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,948 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Booking worth $141,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 1.1% in the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management boosted its stake in Booking by 2.1% in the third quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 97 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank boosted its stake in Booking by 3.4% in the third quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 57 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its stake in Booking by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 140 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $164.94 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $233.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $169.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.06. The company has a market capitalization of $127.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $215.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley raised Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays set a $210.00 price objective on Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Booking from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.14.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 80,351 shares of company stock worth $13,545,706 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.