Equitable Holdings Inc. Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Equitable Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 8,651 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,542,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised 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 valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.45.

Booking Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $205.63 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.64. The company has a market cap of $154.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $226.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.