OneAscent Financial Services LLC Buys New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 2,860.8% during the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,238,000 after acquiring an additional 12,130 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Booking by 1,663.9% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,115,000 after acquiring an additional 27,071 shares during the period. Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $51,396,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Booking by 2,643.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 527,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,008,000 after purchasing an additional 508,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total value of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,100,500. The trade was a 6.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $79,125.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,063. The trade was a 2.27% 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 have sold 140,050 shares of company stock worth $26,341,680 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

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

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 price objective (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.