Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) VP Sells $10,229,375.00 in Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) VP Peter Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Booking Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $167.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $170.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.37. The company has a market cap of $129.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.10. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. HSBC cut their price objective on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus upped their target price on Booking from $188.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Susquehanna set a $260.00 target price on Booking in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Booking from $224.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allen Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 697 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,934,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 26,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,056,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise grew its stake in shares of Booking by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 15,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $65,092,000 after buying an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 599.4% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 2,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,661,000 after buying an additional 2,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bull Harbor Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,410,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.