5,684 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Purchased by Centaurus Financial Inc.

Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,013,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $1,370,455,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $992,026,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $770,673,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $79,125.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,404,063. The trade was a 2.27% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 target price (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday. Mizuho set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.45.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG 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 stock has a market capitalization of $152.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.49.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. 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%.

Booking 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.