26,048 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Purchased by Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd

Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 26,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,643,000. Booking makes up 1.8% of Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 3,475.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Booking by 3,550.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN increased its holdings in Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $79,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,063. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 price objective on Booking and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.72.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $209.87 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $187.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.