Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Stock Position Raised by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1,663.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,071 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $5,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its stake in Booking by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $179,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other 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 owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% 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 have sold a total of 69,625 shares of company stock worth $11,652,075 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $212.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.49 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $231.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $182.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.92.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $55.40 EPS. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. 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 (DPR) is 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

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.