Equitable Holdings Inc. Buys Shares of 8,651 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Equitable Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 8,651 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,542,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 3,475.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,550.0% in the second quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Financial Corp IN grew its position in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its stake in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,200,000. The trade was a 23.81% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $205.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $154.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $226.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $192.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.64.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $55.40 EPS. Booking’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS 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 paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley Financial restated 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. Benchmark raised their price target on Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday. Mizuho set a $240.00 price objective on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.45.

Booking 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.