Insider Selling: Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Insider Sells $610,440.00 in Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total value of $610,440.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 73,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,935,432. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock traded down $3.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $195.69. 5,294,518 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,183,288. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $226.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $192.80 and its 200-day moving average is $177.79.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly 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. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $55.40 EPS. Booking’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Booking by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in Booking by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.70.

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.