Focus Financial Network Inc. Has $907,000 Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,419.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,888 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,055,006,000 after acquiring an additional 23,159 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,685,520,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 15.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised 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 purchasing an additional 816,022 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total value of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,100,500. This represents a 6.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 69,625 shares of company stock worth $11,652,075 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Down 0.0%

BKNG stock opened at $212.87 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $231.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $181.21 and its 200-day moving average is $176.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.95 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.Booking’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark increased their target price on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.