Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Acquired by Strategic Financial Services Inc.

Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,210.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,750 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,328 shares during the quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Booking by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 45 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,860,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Booking by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 52 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities started coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 target price (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.70.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $193.29 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $194.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.60. The company has a market capitalization of $145.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $226.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $55.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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, insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total transaction of $610,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 73,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,935,432. This represents a 3.93% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 81,550 shares of company stock worth $16,922,744. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.