Wick Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 10,298 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Key Points

• Wick Capital Partners LLC opened a new position in Booking Holdings during the fourth quarter, buying 10,298 shares worth about $55.1 million. Booking now represents about 4.0% of the fund’s portfolio and is its 8th largest holding.
• Booking’s latest quarterly results came in slightly ahead of expectations, with EPS of $1.14 versus the $1.08 estimate and revenue of $5.53 billion, up 16.2% year over year. Analysts still see the stock as a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $227.14.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, or $1.68 annualized, for a 1.0% yield. Meanwhile, insiders have been selling shares, including CEO Glenn D. Fogel and Director Vanessa Ames Wittman.

Wick Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,298 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $55,149,000. Booking makes up about 4.0% of Wick Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in Booking by 191,965.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 28,353.8% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after buying an additional 203,580 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 862.0% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after acquiring an additional 195,411 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Booking by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,173,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128,700 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Piper Sandler set a $195.00 price target on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Booking from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $215.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $175.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Booking from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.14.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $171.78 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $169.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.08. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $233.58.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. Corporate insiders own 0.16% 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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