West Branch Capital LLC Raises Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,475 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the quarter. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Doliver Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,214.2% during the second quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 10,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 10,008 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB boosted its holdings in Booking by 1,824.8% in the second quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 28,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,002,000 after purchasing an additional 26,606 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Booking by 2,548.6% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 649,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $115,785,000 after purchasing an additional 625,076 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Booking by 2,317.1% during the 2nd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 4,055 shares during the period. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Booking by 2,336.8% during the 2nd quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,078,000 after purchasing an additional 21,943 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,100,500. This represents a 6.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. 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 69,625 shares of company stock worth $11,652,075 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $212.87 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.95 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $181.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.87.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.72.

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.