Traders Buy Large Volume of Booking Call Options (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Booking call-option activity surged: Investors purchased 21,239 call options, about 31% above the typical volume of 16,213. The stock rose 4.9% to $195.94 during Tuesday trading.
• Booking reported quarterly EPS of $1.14, beating estimates by $0.06, while revenue reached $5.53 billion, up 16.2% year over year. Analysts expect $10.45 in full-year EPS.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable: Booking has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $227.05 price target, compared with its trading price of $195.94.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 21,239 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 31% compared to the typical volume of 16,213 call options.

Booking Trading Up 4.9%

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $9.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $195.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,527,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,595,986. Booking has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $231.80. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $172.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.43. The stock has a market cap of $151.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.07.

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 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 firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Booking will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Gordon Haskett upped their price target on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Booking from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Booking from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine 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 $227.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business's 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. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $361,463,000. Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,396,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $210,352,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased 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 buying an additional 195,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 56,087 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $300,364,000 after buying an additional 15,053 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.