Global Retirement Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Global Retirement Partners acquired 26,171 Booking Holdings shares worth approximately $4.7 million in the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 92.42% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $235.72; Booking also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $2.54 EPS and $7.35 billion in revenue.
• Insiders sold 89,625 shares worth about $15.9 million over the past 90 days, while Booking declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, representing a 0.8% annualized yield.

Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 26,171 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,665,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Booking in the second quarter worth $1,370,455,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,665,168,000 after buying an additional 816,022 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 66,209.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 659,783 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $117,600,000 after buying an additional 658,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,548.6% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 649,602 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $115,785,000 after buying an additional 625,076 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $240.00 price target on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price objective on Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.72.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $212.06 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $231.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.65.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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