MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH Purchases New Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 16,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,002,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,635,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $1,157,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $769,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter worth $1,014,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter worth $248,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.45.

Booking Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $202.56 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $226.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $55.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This trade 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. Insiders have sold 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.