Hardy Reed LLC Purchases Shares of 10,270 Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Hardy Reed LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 10,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,831,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,055,006,000 after acquiring an additional 23,159 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Booking by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,685,520,000 after purchasing an additional 6,976 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Booking by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,173,899,000 after purchasing an additional 128,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Booking by 1,497.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,625 shares of company stock worth $15,872,675. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $212.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $184.00 and a 200-day moving average of $176.65. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $55.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $211.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.72.

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.