Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock Position Lifted by Venture Visionary Partners LLC

Key Points

• Venture Visionary Partners increased its Booking Holdings stake by 53.3% in the third quarter to 61,803 shares worth approximately $10.1 million. Institutional investors collectively owned 92.42% of BKNG.
• Analysts maintained a generally positive outlook, with Booking receiving a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.38, despite some hold and sell ratings.
• Booking reported quarterly revenue of $7.35 billion and EPS of $2.54, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue grew 8.1% year over year. The company also declared a $0.42 quarterly dividend, although insiders sold $17.2 million of stock during the quarter.

Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,803 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 21,496 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $10,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at about $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Booking by 2,674.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,026,348,000 after buying an additional 37,999,915 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Booking in the second quarter worth about $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,370,455,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Booking by 2,525.5% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,101,866 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,087,597,000 after acquiring an additional 5,869,459 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 price objective on Booking and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $188.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total value of $610,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 73,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,935,432. The trade was a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. 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 have sold a total of 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock traded down $1.76 on Wednesday, reaching $155.87. 6,267,067 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,241,663. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.12. The company has a market cap of $117.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.13. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $220.81.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Booking's payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.

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