Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Sculati Wealth Management LLC

Sculati Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,400.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. First Financial Corp IN increased its stake in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Booking Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $213.34 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $183.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.00. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The stock has a market cap of $160.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $55.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.42 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 18.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total value of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,100,500. The trade was a 6.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.