Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Purchased by Waverly Advisors LLC

Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1,425.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,233 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Booking by 419,256.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 214,651,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,259,498,000 after acquiring an additional 214,600,394 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $1,370,455,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 2,525.5% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,101,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,087,597,000 after purchasing an additional 5,869,459 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. 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 note on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $234.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total transaction of $610,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 73,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,935,432. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 81,550 shares of company stock worth $16,922,744. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $173.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $130.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.85. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $225.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global provider of online travel and related services. The company connects consumers with accommodations, flights, rental cars, restaurants and travel experiences through a portfolio of digital brands and websites.

Its principal brands include Booking.com, which offers lodging, transportation and travel experiences; Priceline, which provides online booking services for hotels, flights, rental cars and vacation packages; Agoda, which focuses primarily on travel bookings in Asia and other international markets; KAYAK, a travel metasearch engine; OpenTable, a restaurant reservation and management platform; and Rentalcars.com, a global car rental service.

Booking Holdings serves customers, travel providers and restaurants across numerous countries and regions, with a particularly extensive international presence.