Vest Financial LLC Grows Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Vest Financial increased its Booking Holdings stake by 2,025.6% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 263,429 shares valued at approximately $47 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.42% of BKNG.
• Booking exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.54 in EPS and $7.35 billion in revenue, with revenue up 8.1% year over year. Shares opened at $212.06, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $235.72.
• Insiders sold 89,625 shares worth roughly $15.9 million over the past 90 days, though the sales were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. Booking also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, equivalent to a 0.8% annualized yield.

Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2,025.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 263,429 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 251,036 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $46,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,171,489,000 after buying an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,665,168,000 after acquiring an additional 816,022 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 66,209.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 659,783 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $117,600,000 after acquiring an additional 658,788 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 2,548.6% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 649,602 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $115,785,000 after acquiring an additional 625,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,271,041,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $212.06 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $184.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.84. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $231.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $55.40 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BKNG. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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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