Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) CFO Sells $4,220,600.00 in Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) CFO Ewout Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Booking Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $213.34. The company had a trading volume of 3,680,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,471,854. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $55.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.72.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Maxi Investments CY Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth approximately $5,704,000. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking in the second quarter valued at $31,460,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in Booking in the second quarter valued at $31,808,000. Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd bought a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,280,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,416,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Booking

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.