Vise Technologies Inc. Invests $6.14 Million in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 34,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $79,125.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at $3,404,063. This trade represents a 2.27% 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. Insiders sold 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $209.87 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $231.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.15. The company has a market capitalization of $157.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.29 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $55.40 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.