Maxi Investments CY Ltd Purchases New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Maxi Investments CY Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 32,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,704,000. Booking comprises approximately 1.2% of Maxi Investments CY Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 25.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its position in Booking by 50.0% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $179,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upped their price target on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $209.62 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.84. The company has a market cap of $157.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 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, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 140,050 shares of company stock valued at $26,341,680 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.