Strategic Blueprint LLC Purchases New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Strategic Blueprint LLC acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 118 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $637,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in shares of Booking by 15.6% in the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Booking by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $437,284,000 after purchasing an additional 11,829 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Booking by 67.3% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $174,893,000 after buying an additional 12,148 shares in the last quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,467,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Booking by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,262,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $5,433.00 to $5,407.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,179.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total value of $80,430.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,124. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570,000. This trade represents a 11.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 3,324 shares of company stock worth $17,193,557 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Booking Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,492.11 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $5,157.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,374.51. The firm has a market cap of $177.01 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.23. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $4,096.23 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $83.39 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.96%.

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.