15,000 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Bought by Shelter Ins Retirement Plan

Shelter Ins Retirement Plan bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,673,600. Booking accounts for 0.0% of Shelter Ins Retirement Plan’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Booking by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Booking by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 53 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $2.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $204.95. 1,849,996 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,208,846. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $226.10. The company has a market capitalization of $154.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $191.50 and a 200 day moving average of $177.49.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued 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. 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Monday. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday. 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 note on Wednesday, August 5th. Gordon Haskett raised their price target on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.45.

Booking Company 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.