Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 12,822 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Hennion & Walsh Asset Management increased its Booking Holdings stake by 12,822 shares, or 2,524%, bringing its total holdings to 13,330 shares valued at approximately $2.38 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.42% of the company.
• Booking reported quarterly earnings of $2.54 per share, exceeding estimates of $2.43, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $7.35 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, equivalent to a 0.8% yield.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Booking carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $235.72, above its cited share price of $212.87.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2,524.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,330 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,822 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $2,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Booking by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 2,660.3% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,404 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,142,000 after buying an additional 6,172 shares during the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Booking by 2,027.0% during the second quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd now owns 12,358 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 11,777 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. raised its position in Booking by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 2,500 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 3,372.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 625 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $212.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $159.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $181.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.87.

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. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking 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 transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% 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 sold 69,625 shares of company stock valued at $11,652,075 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 target price on Booking and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. B. Riley Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised their price objective on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.72.

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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