Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions initiated a 7,824-share position in Booking Holdings during the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.42% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly optimistic, with 27 Buy, one Strong Buy and eight Hold ratings; Booking has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $235.72.
• Booking exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.54 in adjusted EPS and $7.35 billion in revenue, up 8.1% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, while insiders sold shares through pre-arranged trading plans.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,824 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,395,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $212.06 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $184.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.65. The company has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve 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, 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 firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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. 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 three months, insiders sold 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Company Profile

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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