Ancora Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Ancora Advisors bought 72,262 Booking Holdings shares worth approximately $12.88 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 92.42% of the company.
• Booking exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.54 in EPS and $7.35 billion in revenue, with revenue up 8.1% year over year. Analysts expect $10.47 in full-year EPS.
• Booking declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, representing a 0.8% yield, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $236.45.

Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 72,262 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,880,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Booking during the second quarter valued at $369,189,000. Castleark Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $24,379,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $111,000. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $383,000. Finally, Lakewood Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $213.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $160.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $229.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.35.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Booking from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Gordon Haskett boosted their target price on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304. Company 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.

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