Newport Capital Group LLC Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Newport Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 21,420 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $115,000. Booking makes up approximately 0.1% of Newport Capital Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Booking during the third quarter worth $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in Booking during the third quarter worth $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Benchmark dropped their price target on Booking from $256.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Booking from $210.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler set a $195.00 price target on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus lifted their price target on Booking from $188.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% 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. Insiders sold 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $169.82 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.57. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $233.58. The company has a market capitalization of $131.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

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.