Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Insider Paulo Pisano Sells 1,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Booking insider Paulo Pisano sold 1,500 shares for approximately $259,530 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his holdings by 2.04% to 71,900 shares. He also sold 3,000 shares on August 31.
• Booking shares traded near $171.40, while the company reported quarterly earnings of $2.54 per share and revenue of $7.35 billion, exceeding analyst expectations; revenue increased 8.1% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, and analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $236.98.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) insider Paulo Pisano sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.02, for a total transaction of $259,530.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 71,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,440,138. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Paulo Pisano also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 31st, Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of Booking stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total transaction of $610,440.00.

Booking Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $171.40. The stock had a trading volume of 5,859,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,154,830. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $225.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. Booking's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Radnor Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 534 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,860,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its position in Booking by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 52 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Booking by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its stake in Booking by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 41 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA boosted its holdings in Booking by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 110 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BKNG. Benchmark boosted their price target on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Rosenblatt Securities initiated coverage on Booking in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $245.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $274.00 price objective (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.98.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global provider of online travel and related services. The company connects consumers with accommodations, flights, rental cars, restaurants and travel experiences through a portfolio of digital brands and websites.

Its principal brands include Booking.com, which offers lodging, transportation and travel experiences; Priceline, which provides online booking services for hotels, flights, rental cars and vacation packages; Agoda, which focuses primarily on travel bookings in Asia and other international markets; KAYAK, a travel metasearch engine; OpenTable, a restaurant reservation and management platform; and Rentalcars.com, a global car rental service.

Booking Holdings serves customers, travel providers and restaurants across numerous countries and regions, with a particularly extensive international presence.

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