Trust Co of Kansas Has $5.33 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Trust Co of Kansas lifted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3,156.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 29,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,980 shares during the period. Booking makes up approximately 2.7% of Trust Co of Kansas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Trust Co of Kansas’ holdings in Booking were worth $5,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,158,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 642 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 112 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1.7% during the second 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. Finally, Lakewood Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 655 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,508,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This trade represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 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 ninety days, insiders sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $274.00 price objective (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 target price on Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC decreased their price target on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Booking Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $212.06 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $231.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.04. The firm has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.