CFO4Life Group LLC Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

CFO4Life Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $920,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings 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 during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 53 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% 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 quarter, insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $209.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $231.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $188.60 and a 200 day moving average of $177.00.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays set a $210.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.