Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas

Key Points

• Institutional ownership increased significantly: Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas raised its Booking Holdings position by 2,414.1% in the second quarter, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively owned 92.42% of the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: Booking has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $236.45, with several firms recently raising their targets.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Booking reported $2.54 in quarterly EPS and $7.35 billion in revenue, surpassing estimates, while revenue grew 8.1% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share.

Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2,414.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,445 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,950 shares during the quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas' holdings in Booking were worth $2,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 12,130 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,663.9% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,115,000 after purchasing an additional 27,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rit Capital Partners PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,396,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BKNG. Argus raised their price target on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price objective on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $188.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.45.

Booking Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $199.09 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $192.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $226.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,851,439.75. This trade represents a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304 in the last ninety days. 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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