Lipe & Dalton Acquires 4,515 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Lipe & Dalton increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3,344.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,515 shares during the period. Lipe & Dalton’s holdings in Booking were worth $829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Booking by 419,256.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 214,651,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,259,498,000 after buying an additional 214,600,394 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Booking during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,370,455,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Booking by 2,525.5% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,101,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,087,597,000 after buying an additional 5,869,459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus raised their target price 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, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 73,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,935,432. This trade represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 81,550 shares of company stock worth $16,922,744. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 6.7%

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $12.99 on Tuesday, hitting $180.30. 10,875,922 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,162,280. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $194.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $225.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

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.