Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock Holdings Boosted by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,025.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 263,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 251,036 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $46,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 66,209.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 659,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,600,000 after purchasing an additional 658,788 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,548.6% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 649,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $115,785,000 after buying an additional 625,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,271,041,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president 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 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 a total of 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $212.06 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $231.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.84.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $55.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Gordon Haskett lifted their target price on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays set a $210.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 price target on Booking and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

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.