OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC Makes New $419,000 Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC invested approximately $419,000 in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by purchasing 91 shares in the first quarter.
• Booking reported $55.40 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenue reaching $6.80 billion, up 16.0% from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly $9.60 dividend, with a payout ratio of 26.71%, which will be paid to shareholders on September 30th.

OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 91 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp bought a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,781.04.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG traded up $77.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $5,532.00. The stock had a trading volume of 169,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 250,028. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,610.44 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The business's fifty day moving average is $5,558.84 and its 200 day moving average is $5,126.10. The firm has a market cap of $179.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $41.90 earnings per share. Booking's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.