Sigma Planning Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4,858.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,053 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 2,956.0% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 22,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,933,000 after purchasing an additional 21,342 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1,233.5% during the second quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,615 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its stake in Booking by 2,360.4% in the 2nd quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 138,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,773,000 after purchasing an additional 133,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 2,333.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 20,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,717,000 after buying an additional 19,994 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $245 price target, implying approximately 25% upside from the referenced share price. The firm views Booking as the best-positioned online travel agency despite industry challenges, providing a potentially meaningful catalyst for the shares. Rosenblatt sees Booking as the best-positioned online travel agency
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks characterized Booking as a strong momentum stock based on its style-score framework, reinforcing the case that recent price and fundamental trends could attract momentum-oriented investors. Why Booking is a strong momentum stock
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank brokers raised their earnings estimates for Booking, suggesting improving expectations for the company’s future profitability. Higher forecasts can support valuation, although the article provides no details on the size or rationale of the revisions. Erste Group Bank lifts Booking earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Priceline CEO Brigit Zimmerman discussed travel trends ahead of the Labor Day weekend. The interview may offer insight into demand and booking patterns, but the available report does not specify whether the commentary was favorable or unfavorable for Booking. Priceline CEO discusses travel trends
• Negative Sentiment: Booking has lagged the broader market this year, which could weigh on investor sentiment and highlights concerns about online-travel-sector growth or valuation. Separately, director Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares worth about $610,440 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan; the planned nature of the transaction reduces its signaling value, but it remains a modest negative headline.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $79,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,404,063. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 80,550 shares of company stock worth $16,722,744. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKNG. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.70.

Booking Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $195.69 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.91. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $226.10. The stock has a market cap of $147.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its 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. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $55.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 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.