OneAscent Financial Services LLC Purchases New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 25.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Booking by 50.0% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $209.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $157.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $187.71 and its 200-day moving average is $177.15. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush raised their price target on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.