Vantage Investment Partners LLC Invests $33.67 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Vantage Investment Partners LLC disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Booking Holdings, buying 7,997 shares worth about $33.67 million. The position makes BKNG roughly 2.3% of the firm’s holdings.
• Booking’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $1.14 versus the $1.08 consensus and revenue of $5.53 billion, up 16.2% year over year. Analysts now expect the company to earn 10.44 EPS for the full year.
• Wall Street remains broadly upbeat on BKNG: the stock carries a Moderate Buy rating overall, with an average target price of $227.26. Recent analyst actions were mixed, but most maintained buy-style ratings despite some target cuts.

Vantage Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,997 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $33,670,000. Booking makes up approximately 2.3% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Gordon Haskett raised their price target on Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. HSBC dropped their price objective on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Argus set a $210.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.26.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded up $2.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $178.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,974,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,066,356. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $231.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $168.72 and a 200 day moving average of $180.25. The company has a market capitalization of $138.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Booking's revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Booking's payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Company 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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