EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 40,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,281,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter worth about $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,370,455,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,055,006,000 after buying an additional 23,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after buying an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.1%

BKNG opened at $209.62 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The stock has a market cap of $157.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $188.60 and a 200-day moving average of $177.19.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. HSBC decreased their target price on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) 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 issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.