Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Acquired by Greenleaf Trust

Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,334.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,820 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 67,911 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Booking were worth $12,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in Booking by 3,475.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,550.0% in the second quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. First Financial Corp IN raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,112,304. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Booking Stock Up 1.5%

Booking stock opened at $205.63 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $192.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.64. The firm has a market cap of $154.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $226.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BKNG. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.45.

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.