EFG International AG Acquires New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

EFG International AG acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $771,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 25.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 50.0% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth $179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% 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 quarter, insiders sold 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $240.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush raised their price target on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.45.

Booking Trading Down 3.0%

BKNG stock opened at $202.56 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $226.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.49. The firm has a market cap of $152.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted 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 the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $55.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

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.