True North Advisors LLC Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• True North Advisors LLC has acquired a new position in Booking Holdings Inc., purchasing 173 shares valued at approximately $797,000 in the first quarter.
• Booking reported strong quarterly earnings with $55.40 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, and showed a 16.0% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60, which will be paid at a 0.7% annual yield, with a payout ratio of 26.71%.

True North Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 173 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $797,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $209,000. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in Booking by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,193 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,320,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $497,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $5,405.91 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $5,569.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,095.71. The company has a market capitalization of $175.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,394.85 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $41.90 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,781.04.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking Profile

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.

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