Trust Asset Management LLC Buys 8,591 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Trust Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,340.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,958 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,591 shares during the period. Trust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 25.0% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 50.0% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the second quarter worth $179,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’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 owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 69,625 shares of company stock worth $11,652,075 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $212.26 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $182.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.92. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $231.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $55.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio 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.