RB Capital Management LLC Invests $1 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

RB Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,000,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 2,860.8% during the second quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,238,000 after buying an additional 12,130 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Booking by 1,663.9% during the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,115,000 after buying an additional 27,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rit Capital Partners PLC acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $51,396,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BKNG. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.45.

Booking Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $205.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.64. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $226.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $55.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.