D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $852,000 Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,277.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,578 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Booking were worth $852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Wedbush upped their price target on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Benchmark increased their price target on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. 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 note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Booking Stock Down 0.6%

BKNG stock opened at $212.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.84. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $55.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% 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 have sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.