Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. Grows Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. grew its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,588.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,281 shares during the period. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C.’s holdings in Booking were worth $978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BKNG. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,158,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in Booking by 0.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Booking by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 112 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 1.7% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Lakewood Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 655 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,508,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $206,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,100,500. This represents a 6.25% 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 have sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BKNG. Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Booking Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $212.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $184.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.04. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $231.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Booking Profile

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.