Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Purchases 43,822 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Gibraltar Capital Management sharply increased its Booking Holdings stake by purchasing 43,822 additional shares in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 45,321 shares valued at approximately $8.1 million.
• Booking reported quarterly earnings and revenue above analyst expectations, with EPS of $2.54 and revenue of $7.35 billion, up 8.1% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $235.72.
• Booking shares opened at $213.34, while the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, representing an annualized yield of about 0.8%.

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2,923.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,321 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 43,822 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 1.2% of Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $8,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $16,055,006,000 after acquiring an additional 23,159 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,685,520,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Booking by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,173,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 425,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,100,500. This represents a 6.25% 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 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $236.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.72.

Booking Stock Up 0.5%

BKNG stock opened at $213.34 on Friday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $183.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.00. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $231.80. The firm has a market cap of $160.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $55.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Booking 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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