Monument Capital Management Grows Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Monument Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,156.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,717 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management’s holdings in Booking were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Booking by 1,497.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after buying an additional 816,022 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Booking by 66,209.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 659,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,600,000 after buying an additional 658,788 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Booking by 2,548.6% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 649,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $115,785,000 after buying an additional 625,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,271,041,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus raised their price target on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.72.

Booking Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $212.06 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $184.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.04. The firm has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $55.40 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% 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 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.