Congress Asset Management Co. Buys 21,345 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Congress Asset Management increased its Booking Holdings stake by 27.3% in the third quarter, purchasing 21,345 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 99,532 shares valued at approximately $16.2 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 92.42%, while Booking insiders have sold 83,050 shares worth about $17.2 million over the past 90 days, including transactions conducted under Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Booking carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $236.24; the company also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations.

Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 27.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,532 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 21,345 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Booking were worth $16,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BKNG. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1,615.6% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 13,931 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 13,119 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in Booking by 2,860.8% in the 2nd 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. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1,663.9% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,115,000 after purchasing an additional 27,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 4,630.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,175 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 23,664 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, Director Robert Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a 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, insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total transaction of $610,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 73,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,935,432. The trade was a 3.93% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus increased their price objective on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. TD Cowen upgraded Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed 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. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on Booking and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $188.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $236.24.

Booking Stock Down 0.4%

BKNG opened at $157.63 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $188.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.13. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $220.81.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $55.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Booking Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.