Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2,956.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,064 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 21,342 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $3,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after buying an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Booking by 1,497.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after acquiring an additional 816,022 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Booking by 66,209.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 659,783 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $117,600,000 after acquiring an additional 658,788 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Booking by 2,548.6% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 649,602 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $115,785,000 after acquiring an additional 625,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,271,041,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $206,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,100,500. This trade represents a 6.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 business'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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. The trade was 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. Insiders sold a total of 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.
Booking Trading Down 0.6%
Shares of BKNG stock opened at $212.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $184.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.84. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $231.80.
Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.Booking's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.
Booking Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date 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%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. B. Riley Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Booking from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.72.
Check Out Our Latest Report on BKNG
Booking Profile
(
Free Report)
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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