Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Monument Capital Management

Monument Capital Management grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,156.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,717 shares during the quarter. Monument Capital Management’s holdings in Booking were worth $507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3,550.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. First Financial Corp IN grew its position in Booking by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $212.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $184.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.04.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $55.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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 issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,100,500. This represents a 6.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore set a $245.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Gordon Haskett upped their price target on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.