SPWM Advisors LLC Sells 2,887 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

SPWM Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,184 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,887 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 1.4% of SPWM Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. SPWM Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Booking by 1,663.9% during the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,115,000 after acquiring an additional 27,071 shares in the last quarter. Rit Capital Partners PLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $51,396,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $210,352,000. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 64,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,604,000 after acquiring an additional 11,042 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. 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 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $212.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.65. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve 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 (EPS) 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 business 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 business posted $55.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus boosted their price target on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $245.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.