HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors significantly increased its Booking Holdings stake by 2,591.6% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 250,692 shares valued at approximately $44.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.42% of BKNG.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with Booking receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $236.70, above its reported $193.29 share price.
• Booking exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.54 in earnings per share and $7.35 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year. The company also declared a $0.42 quarterly dividend, although insiders sold roughly $16.9 million of stock over the past 90 days.

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2,591.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 250,692 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 241,378 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $44,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,475.0% in the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 3,550.0% during the second quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. First Financial Corp IN boosted its position in Booking by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc grew its stake in Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 150 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 24th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $236.70.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $193.29 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $194.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $226.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Booking's payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $79,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at $3,404,063. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of 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 a total of 81,550 shares of company stock worth $16,922,744 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

About Booking

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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