Crux Wealth Advisors Has $2.99 Million Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Crux Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,530.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,119 shares during the period. Booking comprises 1.0% of Crux Wealth Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Crux Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Booking were worth $2,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BLB&B Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 52 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Equity Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Equity Wealth Partners LLC now owns 101 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,158,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Booking by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 642 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 112 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% 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 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $213.34 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $231.80. The company has a market cap of $160.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $183.08 and a 200-day moving average of $177.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $55.40 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $240.00 price target on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

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.