Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Booking Holdings saw unusually heavy options activity, with traders buying 66,011 call options — about 340% above normal volume.
• The stock slipped to $177.89 on Tuesday, while the company’s latest earnings beat expectations with $1.14 EPS on $5.53 billion in revenue, up 16.2% year over year.
• Booking recently declared a $0.42 quarterly dividend and remains broadly favored by analysts, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $227.11.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 66,011 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 340% compared to the typical volume of 15,011 call options.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded down $4.52 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $177.89. 3,597,807 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,016,018. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $169.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.29. Booking has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $233.58. The company has a market cap of $137.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Argus boosted their target price on Booking from $188.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.11.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% 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. Insiders sold a total of 80,351 shares of company stock worth $13,545,706 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in Booking by 191,965.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted 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 valued at $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Booking by 28,353.8% in the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after purchasing an additional 203,580 shares during the period. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Booking by 862.0% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,167,890,000 after acquiring an additional 195,411 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% 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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