Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Signaturefd LLC

Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1,668.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,211 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Booking by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Booking by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $212.06 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $231.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $184.00 and a 200 day moving average of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly 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. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $55.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. 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 presently 18.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,536. This trade represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Benchmark upped their price objective on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $240.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

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.