Giverny Capital Inc. Has $93.16 Million Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Giverny Capital Inc. increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,375.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 522,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 501,547 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises 3.2% of Giverny Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Giverny Capital Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $93,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the second quarter worth about $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its position in Booking by 2,860.8% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after acquiring an additional 12,130 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Booking by 1,663.9% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,115,000 after acquiring an additional 27,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rit Capital Partners PLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,396,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $188.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.70.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $193.29 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $226.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $194.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.60. The stock has a market cap of $145.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 81,550 shares of company stock worth $16,922,744. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.