Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock Bought by Professional Advisory Services Inc.

Professional Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 12.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 161,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,940 shares during the period. Booking comprises approximately 3.1% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $26,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Enhancement Group LLC boosted its position in Booking by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 4,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 31,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,776,000 after buying an additional 3,506 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 29.0% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 1,971.2% in the third quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 2,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 2,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Booking by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 2.6%

NASDAQ BKNG traded up $4.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $159.97. 7,777,094 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,239,592. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $186.93 and a 200 day moving average of $178.00. The company has a market cap of $120.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.13. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $220.81.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $55.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.38.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.